Education
He studied in Paris with Abelde Pujol, Francisque Joseph Duret, and Francois Rude, and in 1854 won the Prix de Rome, producing in Italy the Neapolitan Fisher Boy and Ugolino.
He studied in Paris with Abelde Pujol, Francisque Joseph Duret, and Francois Rude, and in 1854 won the Prix de Rome, producing in Italy the Neapolitan Fisher Boy and Ugolino.
Carpeaux became the leading sculptor of the Second Empire, recording its typical figures in a series of distinguished portraits. In such works as the Pavilion de Flore pediment, the Dance (Paris Opera) and the Four Parts of the World (Luxembourg Gardens), he captured the spirit of the period. Freedom of movement, open forms, and bold manipulation of surfaces for contrasts of light and shade characterize Carpeaux's original, nonacademic style.