Félicie De Fauveau : L'amazone De La Sculpture

Exhibition at the Historial de la Vendée, les Lucs sur Boulogne, February 16 - May 19, 2013 ; Paris, Musée d'Orsay, June 11 - September 15, 2013

Félicie de Fauveau (1801-1886) had made the most difficult life choices: being a sculptor, a feminist, a legitimist and a catholic. Sent into exile, she settled in Florence, where she produced portraits, jewels and various monuments, which constitute the most part of her work. One of the major figures of romantic sculpture next to Antoine-Louis Barye, Antonin Moine or Auguste Préault, extolled in her time, praised to the skies by Stendhal, she fell into oblivion from the late 19th century, having nothing to please a republican and secular 20th century. Besides, her work, inspired by Middle Ages and religiosity, is for the most part out of France.

This book, catalogue of the retrospective organised by the Historial de la Vendée in partnership with the musée d'Orsay, gathers 80 works by the artist, coming from the whole world. Thanks to her correspondence and her Memoirs, remained unpublished, it presents the last researches on the artist.