This biography from the Archives of AskART:
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 The son of a goldsmith, Parisian born Antoine-Louis Bayre was a
sculptor of animal subjects and acclaimed, not only for his apparent
skill, but as the founder of what became known as the French Animaliers
School. Among his patrons were representatives of the state
government and royalty including the Duke of Orleans and the Dukes of
Luynes, Montpensier and Nemours.
Well compensated financially, he
was able to buy the best of materials and hire the country's most
skilled foundry craftsmen. The foundry he hired was owned by
Ferdinand Barbedienne, and casts from this period were stamped with the
letters, FB. However, he did not make a lot of money from his
work because he was such a perfectionist that often he would not
sell his work because he thought it was not 'quite right'. In
1848, he declared bankruptcy, and his molds and plaster casts were sold
along with the copyrights.
Bayre's specialty was aroused, angry seeming wild game such as lions
and tigers and elephants, but he also did equestrian groups and
mythology figures. In order to do realistic depictions of animal anatomy, he spent
much time at the Jardin de Plantes in Paris.
His early training was as an apprentice to a metal engraver, but being
drafted in the army in 1812, ended that education. In 1832, he
had established his own studio, and unique at that time was
his method of cold stamping his bronze casts, so that each one had a special number. He had
his first entry, The Milo of Croton, in the Paris Salon in 1819, winning a second prize. In 1831, a work regarded as a masterpiece, Tiger Devouring a Gavial,
was in the Salon, and purchased for the Luxembourg Gardens, is now in
the Louvre. However, many of his subsequent Salon submissions were rejected
and so angered him that between 1836 and 1851, he refused to submit
entries. In 1851, he again exhibited at the Salon with Jaguar Devouring A Hare, and this work, like the 1831 entry, was placed in the Luxembourg Gardens and eventually in the Louvre.
In spite of problems with the Salon, Bayre received many accolades for
his work, and the period of 1837 to 1848 was considered the most
productive time of his career. However, in 1848, when he lost
control of his work and it was reproduced by others including Martin
and Barbedienne, the sculptures, according to some art professionals, is
not as skillfully executed---in other words, devoid of the perfection
he strove so hard to achieve.
In 1848, after his bankruptcy, Barye became Director of Casts and
Models in the Louvre, until 1850, when he was replaced by Emmanuel
Fremiet. It was a very difficult time for him. However,
within a few years, he began receiving accolades for the quality and
uniqueness of his work, and people began appreciating the powerful
images of his sculpture---especially the wildlife in their natural
surroundings.
In 1854, he was appointed Master of Zoological Drawing in the Musee
d'Histore Naturelle, and held this position until his death in
1875. There one of his pupils was Auguste Rodin, who would become
a revolutionary modernist sculptor of figure and portrait
subjects. By 1857, Bayre was recovered financially and resumed
controlled of his casts and models. Although he continued with
his former subject matter, the many state commissions he received took
most of his creative energy.
He also received many official honors such as Officer in the
Legion d'Honneur, first presidency of the Central Union of Beaux Arts,
Grand Medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and membership in
the Institute of France.
His work as a sculptor ended in 1869 when he was 73, and after his
death, six years later, Ferdinand Barbedienne purchased most of his
plasters and molds. Barbedienne, who was Bayre's original
foundry owner and who had accommodated the perfection demanded by the
sculptor, continued casting bronzes. These posthumous works
reportedly have the same meticulous attention to detailing that Bayre
would have demanded.
Sources:
http://www.gallerydirectart.com/sun-133.html
http://www.bronze-gallery.com/sculptors/artist.cfm?sculptorID=4
Barye by Alfred Saunier (1925)
Barye by Charles De Kay (1889)
Barye by the Musee de Louvre (1957)
Les Animaliers by Jane Horswell (1971)
A.L. Barye by Arsene Alexandre (1889)
L'Oeurve de Barye by Roger Ballu (1890)
The Animaliers by James Mackay (1973)
Animals in Bronze by Christopher Payne (1986)
Bronzes of the 19th Century by Pierre Kjellberg (1994)
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