It stands proudly at the entrance to New York Harbor, a symbol of freedom and Franco-American friendship, and is the most famous statue in the world. The sculptor of the Statue of Liberty is too often unknown to the general public.
It stands proudly at the entrance to New York Harbor, a symbol of freedom and Franco-American friendship, and is the most famous statue in the world. The sculptor of the Statue of Liberty is too often unknown to the general public.
Auguste Bartholdi is a French sculptor, born in 1834 in Colmar. After the death of his father when he was only 2 years old, heand his family moved to Paris.
A few years later, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and began a trip to Egypt. The colossale sculptures he discovered there will influence his entire work. Back in France, his hometown gave him his very first commission and he began his career as a sculptor.
Coming from a privileged family, he will never suffer from lack of money and will be able to devote his whole life to his art.
Among all his works, the Statue of Liberty is undoubtedly the most famous. Erected as a token of Franco-American friendship, this gigantic sculpture of more than 90 meters high overlooks New York Bay where it welcomes all comers. As popular as it is today, when it was created, the project was not unanimously approved. The Americans simply did not see the point of this statue!
Nevertheless, Auguste began work on the statue in 1874, in Paris, after being inspired by the face of the Frenchwoman Isabella Eugénie Boyer, wife of the founder of the Singer sewing machine company, who served as his model.
He sculpted the arm holding the torch and the head, the most impressive parts such as the base of the statue, in order to be able to quickly show the progress of the work and thus influence the campaign of donations which will last 5 years.
Once the funds were raised, Auguste worked in collaboration with another famous French artist, Gustave Eiffel, who was responsible for the internal structure of the statue. The parts were assembled in 1882 and the whole completed in 1884. The statue remained in Paris for a year, before being dismantled and sent to New York. However, there is no need to go to the Big Apple to see it. Numerous replicas of "Liberty Enlightening the World" have been made, notably in Paris, such as the one on the Ile aux Cygnes in the 15th arrondissement.
Also visible in France is the Lion of Belfort, the largest stone statue in France (22 m long and 11 m high). Elected favorite monument of the French in 2020, this sculpture is a tribute to the heroic resistance of this city of Burgundy-Franche-Comté during the siege of the Prussians during the war of 1870-1871.
Majestic, seemingly cornered but always valiant and firm on its feet, the monumental animal glorifies the defense of the people of Belfort who, unlike the inhabitants of the neighboring Alsatian towns, remained French. Facing west, Bartholdi's feline looks in the direction of his cousin from across the Atlantic, that other beautiful universal symbol of independence.
Marie from Comme des Français
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