Cartier, Thomas François

Born in Marseilles in February of 1879, Thomas Francois Cartier was an animalier best known for his small bronze sculptures of dogs - specifically bull terriers and retrievers.  He studied under Georges Gardet, an animal sculptor and inherited his passion for unfaltering realism and detail, though his work tended more towards Romantic idealism in figuring his scenes and animal emotions than his Animalier contemporaries.  In the beginning of the 20th century, Cartier began exhibiting regularly at Salon des Artistes Français, being distinguished with hors-concours (honorable mention) in 1908 and achieving a gold medal in 1927. He also exhibited at the Salon d’Automne.  Cartier's passion for naturalism in his work tended towards the savage, his work often honing in on animals with an innate aggressive nature: lions, hunting dogs, wolves, fighting deer and birds of prey. More infrequently, though nonetheless successfully, Thomas Francois Cartier dabbled in frontier-inspired themes with a few of his bronzes depicting warriors riding horseback or Native Americans fighting wild animals.

Literature:

• Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: Dictionary of Artists, Pierre Kjellberg
• E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, vol. III, Gründ, 2006, p. 499
• Animals in Bronze, Christopher Payne
• Dictionnaire de Sculpteurs de l’ecole Française, Stanislas Lami
• Art Bronzes, Michael Forrest
• The Animaliers, James Mackay, p. 58
• Les Animaliers, Jane Horswell