A Patinated Bronze Figure of a Nude Lady by Pierre Alexandre Schoenewerk French (1820-1885)

Pierre Alexandre Schoenewerk French (1820-1885)

H: 22"
L: 9-1/4"
D: 9"


Pierre Alexandre Schoenewerk (1820-1885) was a Romantic French sculptor. He was born on February 18, 1820, the son of an immigrant tailor, precluding him from competing later in his life for the Prix de Rome.

Pierre received his early training under the painter Pierre Jules Jollivet (1794-1871) and the sculptor Henri Joseph Triqueti (1807-1874) before becoming a student of French master Pierre Jean David d’Angers (1788-1856).

The artist works in bronze and marble can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, Angers; the Museum Orsay, Paris; the Museum of Picardy, Amiens; the vestibule of the Opera Garnier; the court yard of the Louvre Museum; Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris and many others.

Schoenewerk showed in his first Paris Salon in 1841. He received the third-place medal at the Paris Salon of 1845, a first place medal at the Paris Salon of 1861, and was named a Chevalier of the French Legion in 1873. The artist would continue to show at the Paris Salons until his death in 1885.

Schoenewerk suffered from mental illness and in 1866 he was confined to a mental ward at the Asylum of Charenton, France. After spending two and half years in the institution, he was released and married the widow of one his friends, the French engraver Adolphe Pierre Riffaut (1821-1859). After ten years of marriage, Schoenewerk’s wife became mentally unstable. The artist suffered from depression, and distraught with the reception of his work at the 1885 Paris Salon committed suicide on July 23, 1885, throwing himself off the third-floor of his home.