The White Bear (Translation)
L'Ours Blanc (Primary Title)
sculpture (Object Name)

François Pompon is considered one of the most influential animal sculptors of the twentieth century. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, he moved to Paris in 1875. The artist was an assistant to sculptor Auguste Rodin for fifteen years, who encouraged him to model his own figures.

From about 1908, Pompon created animal sculptures, such as birds, ducks, lions and panthers, owls, and bears. He became internationally known due to these popular figures. To create them the artist prepared a rough model in clay, cast it in plaster, and then used various instruments to complete the form.

It was only after 1922 that Pompon’s animal sculptures, including his life-size White Bear (also known as Polar Bear in Stride), achieved enormous success. The artist’s early sculptures were small in scale, but after World War I he began a large plaster model about 8 feet long of a Polar Bear (now at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes) that he exhibited at the Salon d’Autumne in 1922.

White Bear is considered one of the icons on view at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, where it was displayed in the entrance hall of the pavilion, organized by members of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, called the Ambassade Française. After the exhibition, a full-size stone replica was commissioned for the Musée du Luxembourg (now Musée d’Orsay in Paris). 

Pompon made various replicas of his White Bear in different sizes and materials.  The first replica, made in 1923, was displayed that year at the Salon d’Autumne. Then 12 other examples were produced between 1926 and 1933, with the majority made in 1927 and 1928. The VMFA’s replica, ordered in October 1927 and delivered in June 1928, is the fifth example. The last example, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is from 1930.