GAYRARD, Paul Joseph Raymond - b. 1807 Clermont-Ferrand, d. 1855 Enghein-les-Bains

French sculptor. He studied at an early age under his sculptor/engraver father Raymond Gayrard (1777-1858) and was a student of François Rude as well as David d’Angers. Gayrard first exhibited at the Salon in 1827 and continued to submit works throughout his lifetime winning a Second Class Medal in 1834 and a First Class Medal in 1846. His last recorded exhibit was in 1855.

He was very successful among the more wealthy of French high society and executed many busts of the notables of the day but he had a considerable talent for animal modeling. His known bronze animal models date from the years 1846 until 1848 with his powerful plaster of a ‘Harness Horse’ exhibited at the Salon in 1847 and submitted again in 1848 in bronze. One of his other animals groups titled ‘The Monkey Steeplechase’ is a rather humorous and whimsical subject done in a similar vain to Christophe Fratin’s bronzes of humanized animals. His monumental works include the four evangelists for the Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris.

Monkey Jockey and Dog

In the middle of the 19th century there was a surge in bronze sculptures of animals doing human tasks. Christophe Fratin created his humanized bears being lamp lighters, dentists, and even reading books. Paul Gayrard also created his famous Monkey Steeple Chase bronze in 1846 which showed a group of four horses jumping with monkey jockeys on their backs. The present bronze is done from this group.