Adrien Hébrard

Adrien Hébrard was a bronze founder, engineer, and entrepreneur. After training in engineering, he founded a bronze foundry in Paris not later than 1902, which operated from 1907 under the name A.-A. Hébrard et Cie. In 1904 he also opened an art gallery.

Hébrard quickly developed into a sought-after specialist among renowned sculptors, building up a flourishing business with entrepreneurial skills and the support of qualified employees. He also had a keen sense of attracting promising younger artists, including Antoine Bourdelle and Rembrandt Bugatti, who also got the opportunity to exhibit in his gallery. In addition, he worked for the sculptors Joseph Bernard and Paul Landowski, among others.

Among the few commissions from Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), however, was his major work The Thinker. After the death of Edgar Degas (1834-1917), his heirs signed a contract with Hébrard to cast previously unknown figures found in his studio estate, 72 wax and two plaster figures, which kept him occupied until 1936. After Hébrard’s death, the foundry also closed in 1937.

Hébrard practiced the sand mold and the lost-wax processes and cast mostly unique pieces or limited editions of a maximum of 20 pieces. Authentic, yet individual casts were achieved using a special technique he developed, which applied the wax in multiple layers with such care that even minute details of the original could be accurately reproduced. To a lesser extent, he also made silver casts based on models made by goldsmiths.