A one-time assistant to Rodin, Pompon first showed this sculpture in plaster
at the Salon d’Automne in 1922, when he was sixty-seven. Its popularity led to
its production in a variety of sizes, from tabletop to full scale, and a range of
mediums, including plaster, porcelain, and marble. It was a favorite model of his
friend Ruhlmann, who used it in two of his interiors at the 1925 Paris exposition:
a small version in the salon of his own pavilion and life-size version shown at the
pavilion of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs. The Metropolitan purchased this
sculpture from the Galerie Edgar Brandt in 1930.

Signature: Signed (incised on left hind leg): POMPON

the artist (until 1930; sold on June 5, 1930 through Galerie Edgar Brandt, Paris, to MMA)

Brielle, Roger. François Pompon, in Les Albums d'Art Druet, Paris, n.d., vol.26.

Humbert, Agnes. La sculpture contemporaine au Musée National d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paries, n.d., unpaginated, pl.no.4 (ill. replica of M.M.A. Polar Bear called L'ours Blanc" in the Musée National d'Art Moderne Paris, but larger than the M.M.A. work (lm.52), made of stone and dated 1925 in the caption).

Alexandre, Arsène. Les sculptures à l'exposition (des art décoratifs, 1925), in La Renaissance, vol. 8, 1925, p.425 (ill.)

Aurell, Tage. Hos franska skulptörer just nu, in Kunst og Kultur, vol.13, 1926, p.66 (ill. statuette of Polar Bear by Pompon; duplicate or M.M.A. work?)
Martel, Jan. Sculpture présenté par Jan et Jöel vol. 13 (1928?), pl. 7 (lower right, ill. Polar Bear by Pompon).

Rey, Robert. François, Pompon, Paris, 1928, pp. 43-45 (discusses eexhibition of the Polar Bear at the Salon d'Automne, 1922, and the banquet that took place there), p. 46 (notes that the Polar Bear became a symbol and Demeurisse painted a sign, still hanging at the entrance of a restaurant on the rue Delambre where Pompon daily took coffee), p.47 (notes that the Polar Bear was placed in one of the halls of the embassy during the exhibition of decorative arts in 1925; notes exhibition of a reduced marble of the Polar Bear at the Salon d'Automne in 1923 (no.1672), p.48 (notes that the artist was commissioned to execute the large Polar Bear of 1922 in stone for the Musée du Luxembourg in 1927), pl. 23 (ill. Polar Bear, 1921, profile to right), pl.23 ill. Polar Bear, 1921, profile to left).

Paris. Société des amis du muséum. Catalogue illustré des oeuvres de François Pompon, 1934, p.7 (Demeurisse mentions bear in studio), p.12 (mention of Polar Bear at the Salon d'Automne, 1922), p.16, no.85 (lists "PETIT OURS BRUN, plâtre [1918]"), p.16, no.86 (lists "OURS BLANC, plâtre patiné [vers 1920]"), p. 16, no. 87 (lists "OURS BLANC, plâtre original de l'oeuvre en pierre appartenant au

Musée du Luxembourg. [Salon d'Automne 1922]"; ill.), p.16, no.88 (lists "OURS BLANC, marbre, réduction du précédent [l'ours a été édité en biscuit par la Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres]"), p.16, no.89 (lists "OURS BLANC, première esquisse des précédents [1921]"), p.16, no.90 (lists "OURS, bronze, petite réduction des précédents").

Dijon. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. Palais des États de Bourgogne. François Pompon, sculpteur animalier bourguignon, 1964, p.5 (mentions Polar Bear at the Salon d'Automne, 1922), p.7 (notes "Pompon commence à modeler en laissant apparentes les pastilles de glaise: c'est ainsi qu'il procéda pour son Ours blanc (underlined)..."), p.11 (mentions Polar Bear; notes 1937 proposition to erect a monument to Pompon in Dijon and subsequent choice of the Polar Bear, his best-known work, to be reproduced in stone by Henry Martinet and placed at the entrance of the square Darcy), p.14, no. 10 (lists "OURS BRUN. Esquisse [1918]. Plâtre. - Haut.:0, 10; Long.:0, 16."), p. 14, no. 11 (lists "OURS BLANC. Esquisse [vers 1920]. Plâtre patiné. - Haut.: 0, 15; Long.:0, 25."), p. 14, no. 12 (lists "OURS BLANC. Première esquisse [1921]. Plâtre. - Haut.:0, 16; Long.: 0, 31."), p. 14, no. 13 (lists "OURS BLANC. Réduction de l'ours blanc du Salon d'Automne, 1922. Marbre. - Haut.:0, 25; Long.: 0, 46."), p. I, no. 13 (ill. the latter).

Chevillot, Catherine with Liliane Colas and Anne Pingeot. Gallimard/Electra - Réunion des musées nationaux, 1994. François Pompon: 1855-1933. (listed under Catalogue Raisonné: Animaux p. 211.