Paul Joseph Raymond Gayrard was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on September 3rd 1807. The son of an engraver and sculptor, Gayrard studied under his father at an early age and was also a student of Francois Rude and David d'Angers.
Gayrard first exhibited a bronze sculpture at the Paris Salon in 1827 and continued doing so throughout his lifetime, winning a second class medal in 1834 and a first class medal at the Salon in 1846. His last recorded exhibit was in 1855.
He was very successful among the very wealthy of French high society and executed many busts of the more notables of the era. While he certainly had a talent for sculpting accurate depictions of characters and human beings, he specialised in animal modelling. His known bronze animal models date from the years 1846 to 1848, with his powerful plaster of a 'Harness Horse' exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1847 and then again in 1848; this time in bronze.
One of his other most famous animal sculptures was entitled 'The Monkey Steeplechase'. This piece was a rather humorous and whimsical one, carried out in a similar vein to Christophe Fratin's bronzes of humanised animals.
His monumental works include the four evangelists for the Sainte-Clotide Basilica in Paris.
Sadly Paul Gayrard passed away in 1855, at the age of 48, but his legacy lives on to this day. You can find bronze sculptures from Gayrard and many of the other famous sculptors, as well as new and innovative pieces, in our catalogue.
