Jules-Félix Coutan (French pronunciation:[ʒylfelikskutɑ̃]; 22 September 1848 – 23 February 1939) was a French sculptor and educator.
Life
As a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, Coutan was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1872; after his return to Paris he executed the fountain group France Bearing the Torch of Civilization for the Exposition Universelle (1889), one of the two prominent sculptural commissions for the exposition grounds.[1] Later he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1900, where he expressed his disdain for the researches of Rodin (as fumiste[2]) and the Impressionist sculptors who followed him. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1905.[3]
Coutan is best known in the United States for the sculptural group above the entrance to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. For Grand Central Terminal, Coutan was contracted to provide a quarter-size scale plaster model of the three-figure allegorical Transportation group, which he developed from 1911 through 1914. (Coutan never visited the U.S.) The carving was performed by the William Bradley & Son of Long Island City.[4]
The small bronzes, some stamped by the founders Thiebaut Frères, that represented a constant source of income for Coutan and a genre typical of his output, appear with some frequency on the art market.[5]
^On the theme of a linear progress of humanity displayed at the Exposition, Pascal Ory remarks, "ce n'est évidemment pas un hasard si les deux principales commandes de l'Expo en matière de statuaire ont été consacrées respectivement à une 'Fontaine du progrès' (Coutan) et à un groupe intitulé officiellement 'La Nuit essayant d'arrêter le génie de la Lumière qui s'efforce d'éclairer la Verité'." (P. Ory, L'Expo universelle, 1889, 1989:20f).
^Claire Maingon, "Les effets de la Grande Guerre sur la carrière d'un jeune sculpteur", Emulations, 2007; French fumiste signifies one who is not serious.
