Biography

François-Raoul Larche was a French Art Nouveau sculptor. Best known for his depictions of figures both nude and draped, as well as for his functional objects such as lamps, goblets, and ashtrays, Larche’s sculptures are characterized by fluid lines and swirling forms. Many of his best-known works were inspired by the dancer Loïe Fuller, a popular entertainer in Paris who performed while wearing elaborate, flowing dresses to enhance her twirling dance techniques—and who was also similarly immortalized by the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Born in 1860 in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France, Larche went on to study at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The sculptor’s work can now be found in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the St. Louis Museum of Art, among others. Larche died in 1912 in Paris, France.