André Allar

André Allar, born in Toulon on 22 August 1845 and died in the same town on 11 April 1926, was a French sculptor.

André Allar was the son of Benoît David César Allar, a worker at the Toulon arsenal, and a seamstress, Hélène Talon. André Allar’s father had inherited the Château du Castellet and donated it to the commune. His older brother, the future architect Gaudensi Allar, first worked at the arsenal, before taking a job as a ship’s boy in 1855. On his return, Gaudensi worked in a printing works, where he apprenticed his brother André in 1857. André Allar sculpts old lead from the printing works1. His talent for engraving and sculpture was soon noticed, and he was taken on by a sculpture firm in Toulon. His mother entrusted him to her brother, Mr Talon, who was working on the new Sainte-Marie-Majeure cathedral in Marseille.

André Allar and his brother Gaudensi are admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille. Gaudensi worked with Henri-Jacques Espérandieu and decided to send his brother André to Paris to perfect his sculpture skills. André Allar studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the workshops of Eugène Guillaume, Antoine Laurent Dantan and Jules Cavelier. He was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in sculpture in 1869. He visited Tuscany, Umbria, Florence and Anzio.

A hard worker, his talent was appreciated, and major collectors and art lovers called on him. By decree of 28 February 1896, André Allar was promoted to Officer in the National Order of the Legion of Honour. On 20 May 1905, he was elected a member of the Académie des beaux-arts, sculpture section, in the chair of Eugène Guillaume. On 7 November 1911, he was made a corresponding member of the Académie de Marseille.

He died in Toulon on 11 April 1926 when he accidentally fell from scaffolding, and is buried in the central cemetery.