Aimé-Jules Dalou was born in Paris in 1838. He began his artistic career as a student of Carpeaux and Duret at the École des Beaux Arts, where he met Auguste Rodin. He debuted at the Paris Salon in 1861, exhibiting the piece Dame romaine jouant aux osselets (‘A Roman Lady Playing Jacks’). He then developed a highly personalised sculptural style, focusing on the depiction of female figures in day-to-day tasks. The success of such models was crowned when Dalou received critical acclaim and a third-class medal for the sculpture Brodeuse (‘The Embroiderer’), at the Paris Salon of 1870.
The artist was a left-wing Republican, a political conviction that led him to flee Paris for London in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and of the subsequent political instability in France. During his time in London, Dalou was appointed as a tutor at the Lambeth Art School. Dalou’s presence on British soil from 1871 represents a key moment for the development of sculpture in the country – his student cohort included important English artists such as William Goscombe-John, George Frampton and Harry Bates.
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