History
Chateau La Gauterie was built in 1820 for Conte Francois Lagauterie who was also the grandfather of Artist Jane Poupelet. He was a formidable trader in the Far East. When he returned to France he built the Château and brought back several varities of trees to remind him of his times overseas. The impressive Bamboo forest is evidence of this.
His granddaughter Jane Poupelet, a renowned sculptress who frequented the same circles as Auguste Rodin grew up at the Chateau.
Jane Poupelet 1874-1932
Baigneuse
ou
Au bord de l’eau
1911-1918
Femme se mirant dans l’eau
ou
Le miroir de l’eau
1914
Jane studied at the Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux and then at the Academy Julian in Paris, she then frequented circles around Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle. She was part of the “Bande à Schnegg”.
Her sculptures are in major American museums. She was a leading sculptress in the early twentieth century. She excelled in animal sculptures. As Vice President of the Independent Salon, she encouraged many modern artists such as Mateo Hernandez (1884-1949), René Iché and Aristide Maillol.
During the 1914-1918 war, she abandoned all of her personal work for the benefit of charities. She created masks for the faces of mutilated soldiers as a service provided by the American Red Cross alongside the US Anna Ladd.
She was ill for several years and she died in Talence on November 18th, 1932.