It’s so easy to forget that America’s most famous monument, the Statue of Liberty, was sculpted by a Frenchman: Auguste Bartholdi. The centenary of his death provides a good opportunity to look back at the rich creativity and skill of a man whose works adorn the major French cities along with New York and Washington.

Recently, the Colmar and Belfort museums joined forces to present a special exhibition of work of Auguste Bartholdi. A biography by academics Robert Belot and Daniel Bermond has also just been published in France by Editions Perrin. These two initiatives combine to underscore the exceptional creativity of the Alsatian sculptor, who made a symbolic figure of the concept of democracy.

The Statue of Liberty may be the world’s most famous sculpture, but the life of its sculptor remains unknown. And yet Auguste Bartholdi, the centenary of whose death is being honoured this year, is probably one of the greatest sculptors of the 19th century, a man who infused his monumental sculptures with inimitable emotion. A biography co-written by Robert Belot and Daniel Bermond has just been published in France to right this injustice and pay homage to the man who devoted all his energy to celebrating liberty and venerating the heroes of the Third Republic. The Belfort and Colmar museums have also joined forces to present an exceptional exhibition on Bartholdi and his famous Lion of Belfort, a replica of which sits in state in the middle of the Place Denfert-Rochereau in Paris.

Auguste Bartholdi was born in Colmar, Alsace in eastern France in 1834. He set up his first studio in Paris when he was just 16 years old. In 1855-1856, the artist made an inspiring trip to Egypt and Yemen and returned with armfuls of photographs and drawings, enthralled by the Egyptian sculptors’ sense of magic and mystery. Bartholdi’s talent won formal acclaim with the unveiling of the Lion of Belfort in 1880. The lion rising up on its haunches as if disturbed in its sleep was to become a symbol of pride for an entire region, which refused to accept Germany’s annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. Sadly, the sculptor died in Paris in 1904 without ever again seeing his native Alsace, occupied by Germany.

Bartholdi’s work can be seen in many French towns and cities worldwide. Just some examples are the sculptures in the Longchamp Palace in Marseilles, the Place des Terreaux fountain in Lyons, the Gribeauval statue in Les Invalides and the La Fayette and Washington monument at the Place des Etats-Unis in Paris. Washington owes him the Capitol fountain, New York his statue of Lafayette arriving in America in Union Square, and Basel his Switzerland Succoring Strasbourg statue. Bartholdi also immortalised the great men who made France: his bronze statues honour Rouget de Lisle, composer of La Marseillaise, republican Léon Gambetta, Egyptologist Champollion and Enlightenment philosopher Diderot.

Auguste Bartholdi was accepted by all regimes, as much by Napoleon III’s Second Empire as by the Third Republic. Yet as Robert Belot and Daniel Bermond point out, he gradually became a staunch believer in republican ideals. This can be seen from Bartholdi’s greatest work, the Statue of Liberty, which embodies his faith in universalism and democracy.

Although the Statue of Liberty now seems inextricably linked to the image we have of the United States, Bartholdi had considerable trouble getting his project accepted. On arriving in the United States on a visit to seek inspiration, he had the idea of placing his colossus on Bedloe’s Island, later to become Liberty Island. However, the project launched in 1871 was to take until 1886 to finish as contributions slowly trickled in from the American public to finance the statue’s pedestal. “Miss Liberty” is first and foremost a gift from the French people to the American people, independently of the two countries’ governments. With her inauguration, the work’s original intention of representing the French contribution to American independence was quickly lost as immigrants from the world over came to see her torch held high off America’s shores as the promise of a new life and the symbol of individual and political freedom. Bartholdi’s universal intuition shines forth here more than ever as an image of democratic values.