BOIZOT, Louis-Simon

French sculptor. He was the son of Antoine Boizot (1704-82), a designer at the Gobelins, and a pupil of René-Michel Slodtz. He studied at the Académie Royale, Paris, winning the Prix de Rome in 1762, and after a period at the Ecole Royale des Eleves Protégés he completed his education from 1765 to 1770 at the Académie de France in Rome. He was accepted (agréé) by the Académie Royale in 1771, presenting the model (untraced) for a statuette of Meleager, but was not received (reçu) as a full member until 1778, when he completed the marble version (Paris, Louvre). He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon until 1800. In 1773, he was appointed artistic director of the sculpture studio at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory at Sèvres, a position he held until 1806.

Boizot’s style was diverse. He began his career working primarily with decorative sculpture and commissions for Fontainebleau and Louveciennes. From 1770 to 1790 Boizot was most productive, working predominantly on portrait busts, small groups, and statuettes. He is best known for his detailed portrait busts of the French royal family, which exhibit a classicism characteristic of his time.