Bust of Alphonse Legros

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This painted plaster head is of Alphonse Legros, a French-born painter, etcher, and sculptor born in 1837 and passing away in 1911, created by Aimé-Jules Dalou, a renowned French sculptor. Both artists trained together as sculptors in Paris before Legros relocated to London. Later, Dalou fled to London due to his political exile status, staying from 1871 to 1879, and secured a teaching position at the National Art Training School through Legros' recommendation, which eventually became the Royal College of Art. This head is all that remains of a full-length figure destroyed by Dalou himself. Records show that the original sculpture depicted Legros holding a palette in one hand and a brush in the other, with his head slightly inclined back as he examined his work. After the destruction of the original piece, Edouard Lantéri retrieved this preserved head.