Marie-Antoinette Demagnez

Demagnez died in Paris in 1925.

• Name — Marie-Antoinette Demagnez • Born — 1869 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Died — 1925 (aged 55-56) • Place of death — Paris, France • Known for — Sculpture • Training — École des Beaux-Arts (studied under Antonin Mercié) • Movement — Art Nouveau • Notable Works — Source d'amour Saint-Chaptes War Memorial

Demagnez was born in Paris, France, in 1869. During a time in history when very few women ventured into the male-dominated world of bronze sculpture, Demagnez’s work was deemed to be of such good quality that she broke the barrier and was allowed to exhibit her work in what was at the time arguably the world’s most important art show—the annual Salon exhibition. She studied sculpture under the direction of Antonin Mercié at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Although perhaps best known for her World War I Memorial at Saint-Chaptes, she also produced a number of bust sculptures featuring prominent French citizens. Among these is a bronze bust of Léopold Bellan, cast by the A. A. Hébrard foundry, that she completed in 1911. Her circa 1895 stone sculpture entitled Mélancolie was described in 1902 by an art critic who said, "The work has delicate and thoroughly feminine sentiment, and is distinctly praiseworthy, albeit the execution shows marks of indecision and inexperience". Demagnez won a bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle and also participated in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair) where she presented a stone statue called Poetry. Demagnez completed an important World War I memorial in 1919 that is now located in Languedoc-Roussillon, Gard, Saint-Chaptes, France, in the Town Hall Square. It is made of stone, concrete and iron. It depicts a woman draped and crowned with laurel raising a palm with a soldier standing guard nearby. Engraved on the bas-relief are the names of those soldiers from Saint-Chaptes that gave their lives for France in the First World War. The concrete portion was edited by Coignet of Paris. A plaque indicating the dead from this town in the Second World War was added sometime after that war ended in 1945.

Demagnez died in Paris in 1925.

• Image — Title — Year — Type — Material — Notes — Location • Bust of M. Wagner — 1892 — Bust — Plaster — Salon du 1892, Palais de l'Industrie • Monsieur le comte H. de la R. — 1893 — Bust — Marble — Salon du 1893, Palais de l'Industrie • Monsieur le comte J. de la B. — 1895 — Bust — Bronze — Salon du 1895, Palais de l'Industrie * • Illustration — Poesie — Poesie — 1897 — Statue — Stone — Receives an honorable mention at the Salon du 1907. Wins a bronze medal at l'Exposition décennale des beaux arts during the 1900 Exposition Universelle Paris. — Salon du 1897, Galerie des machines. 1899-1900 l'Exposition décennale des beaux arts, Grand Palais 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, USA • Étude de Tète — 1898 — Salon du 1898, Galerie des machines * • Illustration — La fortune et le jeune enfant — La fortune et le jeune enfant — 1901 — Salon du 1901, Grand Palais * • Illustration — La Source D'Amour — La Source d'amour — 1902 — Deep relief — Art critic Yvanhoe Rambosson describes the piece as a charming sculpture group containing a young nymph putting her hands up to the spring and drinking from it. — Salon du 1902, Grand Palais Salon du 1903, Grand Palais • L'Aveu — 1903 — Salon du 1903, Grand Palais • Le Pardon — 1905 — Sculpture group — Stone — Salon du 1905, Grand Palais • Souvenir — 1906 — Bust — Plaster — Salon du 1906, Grand Palais • Jeunesse — 1907 — Garden planter — Bronze — Salon du 1907, Grand Palais • Portrait of M. Bellan — 1907 — Bas-relief — Bronze — Salon du 1907, Grand Palais Salon du 1912, Grand Palais • Harmonie — 1908 — Salon du 1908, Grand Palais • Portrait of M. Cheramy — 1910 — Bust — Bronze — Salon du 1910, Grand Palais • Le Souvenir — 1914 — Statue — Plaster — Figure forming part of a monument — Salon du 1914, Grand Palais • La Marne — 1921 — Sculpture group — Plaster — references the 1914 sculpture Le Souvenir — Salon du 1921, Grand Palais • Portrait de Madame la Duchesse de La R. — 1922 — Bust — Plaster — Salon du 1922, Grand Palais • Pomone, reine des Vergers — 1923 — Decorative statue — Stone — Salon du 1923, Grand Palais

• Illustration — A circa 1898 signature example for M. A. Demagnez