Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

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Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was born in Anizy-le-Château, Aisne on 12 June 1824 and died on 4 June 1887 in Sèvers.

He was a student of David d’Angers and studied briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts.

His career is distinguished by his versatility and his work outside France: in England between 1850 and 1855 (working for Mintons), and in Brussels around 1871. Carrier-Belleuse’s name is perhaps best known because Auguste Rodin worked as his assistant between 1864 and 1870. The two traveled to Brussels in 1871, and by some accounts Rodin assisted Carrier-Belleuse’s architectural sculpture for the Brussels Stock Exchange.

Carrier-Belleuse made many terracotta pieces, the most famous of which may be The Abduction of Hippodameia depicting the Greek mythological scene of a centaur kidnapping Hippodameia on her wedding day. He was also made artistic director at the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres in 1876.

As a painter he produced many portraits and landscapes on the Côte d\'Opale, northern sea-borders facing England, chiefly in the village of Audresselles. In 1862 Carrier-Belleuse was one of the founding members of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was made an Officier of the Légion d\'honneur.

He was also the father and teacher of Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse.