Levasseur, Henri

Born in Paris April 16th, 1853, Henri Louis Levasseur studied under Eugene Delaplanche, Emile Thomas and Auguste Dumont. He began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Francais in 1881 and his work received distinction in the Exhibition of 1882. He went on to receive a third-place medal in 1885, a second-place medal in 1888, was awarded at the Exposition Universelle with bronze in 1889, a first-class medal in 1898 and silver medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle where he presented a Jeanne d'Arcin bronze, silver, gold, fine pearls and rubies. His works were cast extensively by Societe des Bronzes of Paris, less frequently by the Siot-Decauville foundry and also by Thiebaut Freres. His work was deeply influenced by the Art Nouveau movement and this affinity for naturalism would continue to have an impact on the works he produced in the Art Deco taste. His ouevre is almost entirely figural with a broad range that includes historical figures, mythological subjects, religious figures and his later contemporary themes of Labor, Industry and Brotherhood. His works are held in collections around the world, including the Grohmann Museum in Milwuakee, the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.

Further Reading and Notes:

• Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century, Dictionary of Sculptors, Kjellberg, p. 437-8
• Benezit, Dictionary of Artists, vol. VIII, Grund, p. 923
• Bronzes: Sculptors & Founders, Harold Berman
• Société des Bronzes Paris, Catalog [showing a large body of his work available for sale by the Société]
• Art Deco and Other Figures, Bryan Catley, 1978, p. 204-205 [eight works represented]