15/1/25 – Acquisition – Paris, Petit Palais, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris – Always so (well) inspired in its purchases, the Petit Palais ended the year with a very nice coup, setting its sights on a very interesting painting which seemed destined to join its collections. Unpublished work by Édouard Dantan, the Portrait of the sculptor Paul Aubé working in his workshop (ill. 1) is also an artistic testament since it is the last work of the artist, painted a few months before his accidental death during a horse-drawn carriage accident [1] in July 1897. A portrait of friendship, this one is both signed, dated and dedicated lower right: “To my friend / PAUL AUBÉ / E. DANTAN / 1897”. Remaining in the model’s descendants, it was acquired from Geoffroy Dassé Antiquités, in Mers-les-Bains and will be presented at the museum in a promising exhibition exploring the portraits of artists, scheduled for spring 2026 from the collections of the Petit Palais which also preserves a beautiful collection of emblematic works by this sculptor.
- 1. Édouard Dantan (1848-1897)
Portrait of the sculptor Paul Aubé working in his workshop1897
Oil on canvas – 55 x 66.5 cm
Paris, Petit Palais, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris
Photo: Paris Musées (public domain)
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See the image on his page
The Parisian museum can be proud of presenting the plaster on a scale of Dante (ill. 2) of which a model is easily recognizable on the table behind the sculptor. The best-known work of its author, born in Longwy then student of Dantan Aîné, Édouard’s father, it triumphed at the Salon of 1879 where it was a great success and was acquired by the City of Paris in order to be printed in bronze, cast by Henri Moltz then installed in 1882 in front of the Collège de France where it is still located [2]. The great plaster of Dante was then presented at the Universal Exhibitions in Vienna in 1882 and then in Paris in 1889…
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