Charles Henri Joseph Cordier
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Charles Henri Joseph Cordier (1827-1905) was a French sculptor who pioneered polychrome sculpture, combining bronze with colored onyx, porphyry, and enamel to create strikingly lifelike ethnographic busts. He traveled to Algeria and Greece to study different peoples firsthand.
Cordier's busts of African, Arab, and Greek subjects were exhibited at the Paris Salon and Universal Expositions. While reflecting 19th-century ethnographic interests, his works demonstrate genuine respect for his subjects' dignity and beauty. The Musée d'Orsay holds a significant collection.
Sculptures by Charles Henri Joseph Cordier
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About Charles Henri Joseph Cordier
Cordier pioneered polychrome sculptural portraits combining bronze with colored stones like onyx and porphyry. His ethnographic busts of African and Arab subjects are both technically innovative and artistically dignified.
Major works are at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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