Galerie Univers du Bronze is pleased to announce an exceptional exhibition devoted to François Pompon, a major figure of 20th-century animal sculpture: "François Pompon – Movement and Form".

An unprecedented celebration of Pompon's work

The exhibition will bring together nearly forty original works, all from the period, illustrating the refined, vivid power of Pompon's approach to animal sculpture: plasters, marbles, terracottas, stones, bronzes, biscuit porcelain… The whole highlights one of the artist's founding convictions: "It is movement that creates form." The exhibition will showcase the artist's finest casts: editions produced by Hébrard, as well as artist's proofs from the Valsuani foundry, all reworked by Pompon himself.

Iconic masterpieces — white and brown bears, panthers, farm animals — will stand alongside rare and precious pieces, such as the "Toy" Boston Terrier, dedicated to his friend the sculptor Trémont. Also on view: the only known example of the Grand Pigeon Boulant in tinted marble, an iconic subject that would mark an entire generation of young artists from the École du lisse. At the heart of the exhibition, a bronze Black Panther with an antique green patina will draw particular attention — created in 1925 for Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, collector and sculptor.

A major publishing event

The opening, on Monday 20 October, will be marked by a signing at the gallery of the new François Pompon catalogue raisonné (Éditions Norma, 2025) by its authors, Liliane Colas and Côme Remy. The bookshop Lardanchet, a partner of the event, will handle distribution of this reference work. A catalogue of the exhibition, bringing together all the works on display, is also being published.

An extraordinary artistic journey

Long left in the shadow of his peers, François Pompon achieved recognition late in life, after putting his immense talent as a practitioner at the service of the greatest sculptors — Rodin, Claudel, Falguière… His own style flourished in a radical modernity, grounded in careful observation, the simplification of forms and the rejection of anecdote. It was with the White Bear, unveiled at the Salon d'Automne in 1922, that he established himself as the leader of the Groupe des Douze, an innovative movement in animal sculpture championing purity, synthesis and formal abstraction.

A not-to-be-missed event for art lovers

"François Pompon – Movement and Form" offers a fresh and sensitive perspective on one of the most distinctive sculptors of his time. The exhibition promises to be a major event of the Parisian art season, driven by the scientific rigour of its curators, the exceptional quality of the works brought together, and the sensitive rediscovery of a sculptural gesture as humble as it is bold.