Henri Weigele

Henri Weigele was born Johann Carl Heinrich Weigele in Schlierbach, in Württemberg, Germany. Both German Wikipedia and a Christie's catalogue note independently give his birth date as 20 September 1858, and the birth year itself is well corroborated across further sources. He trained as a sculptor through an apprenticeship in Stuttgart before moving to Paris in 1877, where he studied under the sculptor Jules Franceschi and later established his own studio. He was naturalized as a French citizen in 1896 and worked in Paris for the remainder of his career. He exhibited at the Paris Salon under the Société des Artistes Français, where a Christie's catalogue note records an honorable mention in 1893, a third-class medal in 1907, and a first-class medal in 1909.

Weigele died in 1927, a date confirmed across multiple independent sources. The exact day and place of his death are less settled: one source gives 4 February 1927 in Levallois-Perret, while other sources, including the infobox data attached to that same source, place his death in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Because the exact day and precise location are corroborated only inconsistently, both details are treated here with caution; the year 1927 is the well documented fact.

Twelve works by Weigele are held by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, according to German Wikipedia records. A sculpture titled Athena is held by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He is also recorded as an exhibitor at the Royal Scottish Academy's annual exhibitions in 1912 and 1913.

No substantive body of critical writing or named critic commentary on Henri Weigele has surfaced in current research, and no exact, citable quotes from major outlets are available. His standing rests primarily on institutional facts rather than critical literature: the presence of twelve works in the Musée d'Orsay and the Walker Art Gallery's holding of his Athena are the strongest available signals of his historical standing. His recorded participation in the Paris Salon, including three Salon medals between 1893 and 1909, and at the Royal Scottish Academy, situates him within the mainstream exhibition culture of his period, but no assessment of his critical reputation beyond these institutional facts can be documented at this time.

No public auction house sale for a work by Henri Weigele has been located as of 2026-07-18. Only dealer listings appear in current research: a terracotta bust of a young girl offered by Mayfair Gallery, with no price stated in available sources, and a terracotta portrait bust of a girl offered by InCollect at an asking price of USD 6,000. Neither is a recorded auction result, and neither carries a confirmed sale date or hammer price. In the absence of any confirmed auction record, house, date, or price, no auction high can be stated for this artist, and any figure presented as his "record" elsewhere should be treated skeptically until it can be traced to an actual sale.

There is no catalogue raisonne for Henri Weigele and no confirmed current gallery or estate representation, so provenance and signature comparison, including examples signed "H. Weigele," carry unusual weight for attribution. Because no public auction record has been confirmed, collectors should be wary of any pricing claim presented as a market benchmark for this artist; the museum holdings at the Musée d'Orsay and the Walker Art Gallery are the most reliable points of comparison for authenticity and quality, and any offered work should be checked against them and against documented signatures rather than against auction data that does not yet appear to exist in the public record.