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- Jean Dampt (1854 - 1945)
Child with apple, 1895
Marble
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
Photo: François Jay / Dijon Museums Department - See the image in its page
At the end of 2025 (November 2025-February 2026), the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon will devote an exhibition to the sculptor, cabinetmaker and goldsmith Jean Dampt (1854-1945). A patron of the Comtesse de Nansouty in Burgundy, then of the Comtesse de Béarn, Martine de Béhague, in Paris, whose hôtel particulier (now the Romanian Embassy) he decorated, Dampt was close to French artists such as Paupion, Aman-Jean and Dagnan-Bouveret, and foreign artists such as Gemito and Schwabe. Despite failing to win the Prix de Rome, Dampt received numerous commissions. He brilliantly illustrated the themes of childhood and dreams, and frequented the Salon Rose+Croix and the Sâr Péladan. He exhibited every year at the Salons, in both the Sculpture and Objets d’Art sections, claiming to be a craftsman. His career ended with the creation of war memorials, notably the one in Dijon.
With this in mind, we are seeking to locate a corpus of the artist’s works, as well as letters, photographs and archives.
The exhibition curator, Naïs Lefrançois, curator in charge of the 19th century collections, invites owners of works or documents to contact her by e-mail: nlefrancois@ville-dijon.fr and assures her of her complete discretion.