Gilbert Privat Figurative Sculptures

Auguste Gilbert Privat was born on May 27, 1892 in Toulouse, where his father was a wood sculptor. After an initial apprenticeship in the father's workshop, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Toulouse, then at the École nationale supérieure of fine arts in Paris, where he was a pupil of Jules Coutan in the sculpture section. Mobilized during the First World War, he was wounded four times and was, as such, decorated with the Military Medal. When he returned to civilian life, he took up residence in the 14th arrondissement of Paris; in 1921, he won the second grand prix of Rome, the winner of which was Élie-Jean Vézien that year. He exhibited regularly in various Parisian salons and in 1937 at the International Exhibition in Paris. He married in November 1937 in Périgueux to Odette de Puiffe de Magondeaux, doctor of law and lawyer; the couple lived during the occupation in the south of France and did not return to the capital until after the Liberation. Privat has received numerous awards, including a gold medal from the Society for the Arts and Letters. He acquired a villa in Soulac-sur-Mer, where he died on August 3, 1969. Several municipalities have honored his memory by giving his name to a street like Périgueux, Soulac-sur-Mer and Paris where, in the 14th arrondissement, Place Gilbert-Privat was inaugurated on November 11, 2004 in the presence of Mrs. Gilbert-Privat.