Joan Of Arc In Prayer - Léon Fagel 1851-1913

DimensionsHeight: approximately 25 cmTerrace: approximately 13.5 X 10 cm Weight: 2.907 kg MaterialBronze with medal patina resting on a rectangular terrace in veined black Signature Signed on the back of the cushion on which Joan of Arc is kneeling. Under the stamp, inscription: first proof Foundry stamp on the back of the helmet: Fumière and Thiébaut.

A man of the North, Léon Fagel remained very attached to his native land throughout his life, where he rests. He was born on January 19, 1851 in Valenciennes (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) in the home of Amandine VAL and Julien Charles Louis FAGEL. His mother was a linen maid while his father practiced the now forgotten profession of balance adjuster (that is to say, he checked the weights and measures of the scales of merchants, artisans and other resellers). The little boy was four years and five months old when his father died suddenly, at the age of 31. His talents leading him towards sculpture, he entered the Academy of Valenciennes where he followed the teachings of René FACHE (1816-1891) who, seeing the talent of his student, sent him to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was then 17 years old. The young Léon assiduously attended the studio of Pierre-Jules CAVELIER (1814-1894) and obtained a few years later (1875, at the age of 24), the second Prix de Rome for Sculpture. Three years later, he presented his first two busts at the Salon des Artistes français. Unsatisfied with his second prize, Léon FAGEL worked tirelessly and his plaster bas-relief "Tobias Restoring Life to His Father" finally won the first prize of Rome (1879) which opened up a 36-month stay at the Villa Medici. His Italian distance did not prevent him from sending works to the Salon des Artistes français which, in 1882 and 1883, were awarded a 3rd and 2nd class medal. Back in France, he married Claire REGNAULD on June 5, 1884, under the gaze of his two masters, René FACHE and Pierre-Jules CAVELIER, and the following year, welcomed little Odette into his home. A delicate sculptor, hardworking, Léon FAGEL pursued a busy career. State and private commissions poured in, while he participated in many competitions in his region, winning most of them. He thus acquired notability and fame. The 1889 World's Fair rewarded his talent with the gold medal it awarded him and he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1893, then an Officer in 1903. On March 20, 1913, while spending the day in Coulsore in the Avesnois region, at the home of one of his friends, with his daughter Odette, he collapsed, struck down by a ruptured aneurysm. He was only 62 years old and had many projects underway.
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