Paul Simon Buste d'Homme Circa 1920 Andro Fondeur Paris Bronze Portrait

Paul Simon ( Paris 1892 - 1979 Saint-Tropez )

Man's bust circa 1920

Bronze, signed on the back Paul Simon and foundry mark Andro, Paris

Dimensions:
Bronze height: 30 cm
Height with base: 44 cm
Depth: 22 cm
Width: 21 cm

The eldest son of Lucien Simon and Jeanne Simon, Paul Simon, a talented artist himself, was always immersed in this artistic atmosphere. Immersed from childhood in this family environment, which focused on the arts and literature, Paul Simon was taught the various arts from an early age. His father Lucien Simon taught him the rudiments of drawing and painting; his mother Jeanne Dauchez taught him watercolor techniques, which he practiced extensively by observing animals; and his uncle André Dauchez, painter-engraver-photographer and brother of Jeanne Dauchez, taught him engraving techniques. For a time, he also received advice from Lucien Simon's artist friends. These artists from his father's environment were familiar contacts for him: Cottet, Jacques Émile Blanche, Ménard, Rodin..., sometimes even, later, partners like George Desvallières for a commission. Some became his models, such as Aman-Jean, for whom he produced a superb bust (1933).

Paul Simon began by taking architecture courses at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in the studio of Pierre-Émile Leprince-Ringuet, who redirected him towards sculpture and subsequently employed him on some of his building sites. He trained in drawing and painting at the Arts Décoratifs, but above all in sculpture at the Grande Chaumière under Antoine Bourdelle, where he joined in 1913. Antoine Bourdelle was to become his teacher, and Paul Simon subsequently devoted himself mainly to sculpture.