Born in 1948 in Paris and graduated from the Rouen School of Fine Arts (France), Michel Bassompierre is today one of the most important artists in the field of contemporary animal sculpture. Bassompierre has brought a unique and distinctive style to this discipline, instantly recognizable. His captivating, delicate, and moving work has traveled the world, releasing his menagerie of marble and bronze all around the globe.

Trained in the workshop of René Leleu at the Rouen School of Fine Arts, Bassompierre learns to observe and look. He creates tons of sketches, which allow him to build his understanding of the animal’s body, the cleverly articulated machine he captures in line and movement, which is making his work so sensitive. Michel Bassompierre discards the anecdotal to focus on the essence.

Preferring animals with rounded forms, such as Asian elephants, gorillas, bears, or horses, Bassompierre succeeds in creating a form that is both soft and precise, where light never clashes with shadow. This visual relationship, in turn, reflects his connection to the natural world, for which he holds a deep fascination, far from any anthropomorphism.

These peaceful animals, seemingly caught in the intimacy of their lives, are embodied in bronze or Carrara marble, following traditional sculpture techniques. Michel Bassompierre especially uses the lost wax technique for all his patinated bronzes.