Louis Dejean (1872-1954)
Louis Dejean was born in Paris on June 9, 1872. He was a self-taught artist and studied at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs for only a year. He then practiced and bettered his art in different studios including those of Carriès and Rodin. In 1909, an argument with the latter over his Balzac put an end to their friendship.
In 1899, he joined in the National Fine Arts Society Salon. He also participated in the Tuileries and the Fall Salons. His acclaimed terracotta figures of graceful women in their every day activities, and of the different Parisian social classes, brought him some fame. However, he set these trifling themes aside and focused on more serious work.
He made the Saint-Ouen War Memorial (1918), The Welcoming, designed for the first-class dining room of the Normandie liner (1933), and one of the four Reclining Nymphs of the Palais de Tokyo. He also made several busts: Théophile Gautier, Léon Bernard, M.-A. Laurens, and groups including The Passions rising to the Muses (1910), Motherhood (1910), Young Wrestlers… Dejean’s works are stored in museums in Cambrai (Phryne, 1932), Lyon (Woman combing her hair), Roubaix (Woman kneeling)…
