Oscar Roty

Louis-Oscar Roty (Paris 1846-1911) was one of the most celebrated medallists of the Art Nouveau period. He first studied painting and sculpture, working under Lecoq de Boisbaudran, Augustin-Alexandre Dumont and Hubert Ponscarme, his mentor, was largely responsible for the renewal of medallic art at the end of the nineteenth century. Roty, along with Champlain, Alexandre Charpentier, and others, influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, advanced this resurgence of art in medal design.

Besides a huge number of medals and plaquettes, Roty is well known as the designer of the “Semeuse” image on French silver coins and stamps. His medallic art can be found in nearly all European museums. A large number of his medals and plaquettes can be viewed in the Kunsthalle Hamburg and the Musée Oscar Roty in Jargeau, France.