Maurice Journès, Cupid (1878)

MAURICE JOURNÈS (1831 Grenoble - 1905 Paris)
Decorative plaque with a medallion of Cupid surrounded by a garland of roses with a banner that reads: CVPIDON / MI0 / VIVA / SEMPRE, on a cushion decorated with tassels at the corners
Terracotta
14 × 10 cm
Signed and dated: Journès 1878

Maurice Journès had an artistic training as a sculptor in Grenoble and Paris. In 1863 he became head of a school of drawing and modeling in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, a town a little south of Tarbes in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where he was the founder of an important school of Bigourdan sculptors. He left Bagnères in 1870 to take up arms. As a dedicated socialist, his official career suffered.