Jean Barnabé Amy was a French sculptor who mainly specialized in bas relief. He was close to members of the Félibrige, a society that promoted Provençal culture, and often made statues, busts or reliefs of members of this society.
Life
Jean-Barnabé Amy was born in Tarascon, Bouches-du-Rhône, on 11 June 1839. His parents were Jean Amy, a laborer, and Marthe Reynaud, a daily maid. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille from 1859. He then studied under Bonnassieux and Dumont at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was awarded a medal in 1868. Amy made his debut at the Salon in 1868 with The Muse of Ponsard, now held by the Tarascon town hall, and The Punishment. He continued to exhibit at the Salon until his death in 1907. His Dévéria, a plaster bust, was exhibited there posthumously. In 1873 he won a contest run by the newspaper Le Figaro for a statue of "Figaro" which now decorates the Figaro building. Amy was close to members of the Félibrige, and portrayed them many times. Examples are Mistral, Les trois Félibriges: Mistral, Roumanille and Aubanel. His bronzed plaster bust of the famous Provençal poet Nicolas Saboly was exhibited in the Salon of 1876 under the incorrect name Jacoby and donated by Amy to the Musée Calvet in 1877. Since no pictures of Saboly were extanct it was entirely a work of the imagination. Amy was a co-founder of La Cigale in 1876. In 1877 the Soucieta Felibrenco dé Paris was founded by Batisto Bonnet, Jean Barnabé Amy, Joseph Banquier, Duc-Quercy, Maurice Faure, Louis Gleize and Pierre Grivolas. The society created the journal Lou Viro-Souléu. In May 1878 two of Amy's work were exhibited in a huge show at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, L'Enfer and Monsier Thiers, couronné par le Renommée et par l'Histoire. A panel of his masks won an honorable mention at the Exposition Universelle. At this time he was experiencing growing financial difficulties. Jean-Barnabé Amy died in Paris on 24 March 1907. In 1909 his son, Marius, gave the city of Marseille more than 100 works.
However, his work mainly consisted of reliefs of literary figures such as Don Quixote, Mireille and Tartarin de Tarascon, of allegorical scenes such as L’Agriculture, La Tentation and La Rose et le Papillon, or of the grotesque such as La Servitude, L’Intempérance, Lou Ramaniau and La Tarasque. Many of his works are held in the Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille. The Musée du Vieil Aix in Aix-en-Provenceholds his Frédéric Mistral. The Musée Calvet in Avignon holds his Joseph Roumanille and Marc Bonnefoy.
