Charles Gumery

A student of Armand Toussaint (1806–1862) at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1850 he received the Prix de Rome, the sine qua non for an official career as a French sculptor. He became a prominent sculptor of the Second Empire, who was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, 29 June 1867. When, on the morning of 29 August 1869 it was discovered that ink had been thrown over Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux' marble La Danse in the façade of the Opéra Garnier, it was thought to have been a scandalized gesture by a member of the public because of the nudity of Carpeaux' figures. Charles Garnier, who had already commissioned from Gumery two gilded groups for the cornice of the Palais Garnier, asked Gumery to sculpt a replacement figure of La Danse to replace the disfigured Carpeaux group. Gumery is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, where his gravestone is surmounted by a bust sculpted by his pupil Jean Gautherin.

Charles Gumery studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and French Academy in Rome. Aristide Croisy is recorded as having studied under Charles Gumery. The recorded working language is French. Employment is recorded with Beaux-Arts de Paris. Works named in the authority record are Night. Work by Charles Gumery is recorded in the collections of Palais Garnier. Distinctions recorded are Prix de Rome and Knight of the Legion of Honour.

His work in Paris includes: • the gilded figural groups L'Harmonie and La Poésie crowning the end pavilions of the Palais Garnier • Circe on the south façade of the Cour Carrée in the Louvre palace, 1860 • the figure of Amsterdam at the Gare du Nord, circa 1846 • the figure of Temperance in the Fontaine Saint-Michel, 1858–60

• Illustration — L'Harmonie (1869), Opéra Garnier. 7.5 m gilt copper electrotype. • Illustration — La Poésie • Illustration — Antoine Favre