Paul Gayrard
Paul Joseph Raymond Gayrard (1807 - 1855) was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France on September 3rd 1807.He studied at an early age under his sculptor/engraver father Raymond Gayrard and was a student of Francois Rude as well as David d'Angers.Gayrard first exhibited at the Salon in 1827 and continued to submit works throughout his lifetime winning a Second class medal in 1834 and a First Class Medal in 1846. His last recorded exhibit was in 1855. He was very successful among the more wealthy of French high society and executed many busts of the more notables of the day but he had a considerable talent for animal modeling. His known bronze animal models date from the years 1846 until 1848 with his powerful plaster of a 'Harness Horse' exhibited at the Salon in 1847 and submitted again in 1848 in bronze. One of his other animals groups titled 'The Monkey Steeplechase' is a rather humorous and whimsical subject done in a similar vain to Christophe Fratin's bronzes of humanized animals. His monumental works include the four evangelists for the Sainte-Clotide Basilica in Paris.
