LA STATUE DE L’OURS EN BRONZE

About

Georges Lucien Guyot – 1950

The statue of the Pyrenean Bear is made of patinated bronze. Unlike the specimen at the Natural History Museum in Paris, which is depicted standing, the Luchon Bear is shown sitting on its hindquarters.

The sculpture is the work of Georges Lucien Guyot (1885–1973), who signed his name on the rock.

It was purchased by the State on 21 October 1950 and assigned to the town of Bagnères-de-Luchon on 27 October of that year. The sculptor had previously created a bronze statue of a bear commissioned by the Paris Zoological Park in 1938 and exhibited at the Salon des Animaliers. Georges Lucien Guyot, who was fascinated by animal behaviour, was a member of the Group of Twelve (animal artists), founded on the initiative of François Pompon.

Aerial views, particularly those from 1958 and 1960, show that the bear statue was originally situated opposite the entrance to the thermal baths. It appears to have disappeared entirely from a photograph taken in 1966, no doubt due to the construction of the Vaporarium, and was then installed in its current position in 1970, following the completion of the works, near the Vallée du Lys.