Identity:

Paul Dubois was a sculptor, painter and administrator.

Life:

Dubois studied with Armand Toussaint (1806–62) and later at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1857. Success came early when works such as St John the Baptist (1861) and Narcissus (1863-5; models in Troyes, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie) and Florentine Singer (1865; Paris, Musée d'Orsay) were purchased by the French government. His painting focused on portraits, many of them of children (he also made portrait busts). From 1873, Dubois also carried on a parallel career as curator of the Musée de Luxembourg and director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Bibliography:

Bénézit, E., Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, 8 vols, 1956-61; Pingeot, Anne, 'Paul Dubois,' Grove Dictionary of Art Online, http://www.groveart.com (accessed 20 July 2004).