Jean Vincent de Crozals

Jean Vincent de Crozals (1922 – 2009) was a French painter and sculptor. He worked in wood, stone, reinforced cement, bronze, iron, ceramics, and paper; and was known for his animal sculptures and gouache paintings.

Early life and family

Jean Vincent de Crozals was born on 8 August 1922, in Toulouse, France.

From 1947 to 1967, de Crozals' first marriage was to the painter Annelies Nelck (nicknamed Anatole), which ended in divorce.

Career In 1949, French artist Henri Matisse asked de Crozals to model for his drawings of Christ in the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence in Vence.

From 1950 to 1951, Russian–French artist Marc Chagall hired de Crozals in Vence to produce various ceramic works.

He exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in Paris starting in 1952, at the Salon Comparaisons in Paris in 1956, and at the 2nd Exposition Internationale de Sculpture at the Musée Rodin. De Crozals produced numerous public sculptures, including for the Collège Technique in Marseilles and the Faculté des Sciences in Nice. In the second half of his life he focused on working in bronze and papier-mâché.

In 1974, de Crozals settled in Nörvenich, Germany with his second wife Hannelore Micknass and their two sons Cyrille and Jean Marie.

De Crozals died on 9 August 2009, in Antibes, and his ashes were scattered in a memorial garden in Nice, France.