Pierre-Nicolas Tourgueneff

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Pierre-Nicolas Tourgueneff (1853–1912) was a French sculptor and painter known for his animalier works. He belonged to the late 19th and early 20th century art scene and was a cousin of the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1880 onward and often worked in bronze.

Early life
Tourgueneff was born in Paris into a Russian family that had moved to France to escape religious persecution after the Decembrist revolt. The family name was originally Turgenev, later changed to Tourgueneff. He studied sculpture with Emmanuel Frémiet, a leading animalier sculptor, and became associated with the Animalier school and, to some extent, Art Nouveau. He lived in a Paris mansion at 97 rue de Lille and maintained a workshop in the Vert-Bois château in Rueil-Malmaison.

Career
Many of Tourgueneff’s works were cast in bronze at the Susse Frères foundry in Paris. He began regularly showing sculptures at the Salon in 1880. His subjects included horses, dogs, and other animals, as well as equestrian figures and military scenes. Notable works include Loys, comte de Nassau (1884), Veneur à cheval du XIVe siècle (1885), Le Patron (1886), Temeraire III, pur-sang (1903), and an equestrian statue of Alexandre III de Russie (Alexander III of Russia) for Saint Petersburg’s museum in 1910. He also produced numerous plaster models and smaller bronzes, such as various horses, dogs, and military figures. His style placed him among the French animalier sculptors, with some influence from Art Nouveau ideas.

Death and legacy
Tourgueneff died in Paris on 21 March 1912 at the age of 58. He is remembered as an important French animalier sculptor. During his life he attracted the attention of writers and artists, including Jean-Louis Forain and Ernest Ange Duez, and he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Public exhibitions and works
In France, his works were shown in Nîmes (jardins de la Fontaine) and in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes, as well as in Paris’s Musée de l’Armée and the Musée d’Orsay (Chevaux de Halage; the plaster version was shown at the Salon in 1887). In Russia, his Alexander III of Russia statue (1910) was installed in Saint Petersburg at the Marble Palace. The Susse Frères foundry catalogued 23 of his works in the early 20th century, including bronzes and plaster pieces such as Archer and various horse and dog sculptures.