| Summary: | The sculptor Paul Dardé (1888-1863) was born in a village of the Hérault department, not far from the town of Lodève. He began life as a peasant, before attending evening classes at the school of fine arts at Montpellier. His early sculptures gained him some recognition, and he was able to visit Italy, thanks to a public grant for ‘the most deserving student’. In Paris he was welcomed by Armand Dayot, director of the review entitled L’art et les artistes. Celebrity came in 1920 when he was awarded a national prize for art. But Dardé left the capital, determined to enjoy the freedom of pursuing his work near where he was born. It was here that he came to design several war memorials, works that were paid no attention by the national salons, but which express the artist’s contradictory temperament in unexpected ways.
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