Caddetou & Ernest Gabard

Ernest Gabard was born in Pau (Béarn)  in 1879 and died there in 1957. At a young age, he had the misfortune of losing his mother and father. Orphaned, he was raised by an uncle and aunt. His talents for the arts showed early and at age 17 his family allows him to join the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

He learned the ropes in the studio of Jules Thomas and also attended the studio of sculptor Auguste Rodin, but at the end of his apprenticeship, disappointed by the Parisian art world, he chose to return his native Béarn. Léon Bérard, said of him in 1954: " Gabard departs from the classical type of the sculptor ... He wanted to be a “Sculptor of Pau” ... and his work bears the stamp of the land ... "

He practices drawing, watercolour, painting, wood carving, stone and marble. Many of his works are located in Béarn and other parts of France’s Southwest.

For berets, he is best known as the creator of his comic book character, Caddetou, always portrayed wearing a beret, blouse, sabots (wooden shoes) and with umbrella.

After the Great War, he worked on numerous monuments to commemorate the dead, comrades of him from when he was active during the war. He also created a beautiful small notebook of 42 watercolours, portraying life at the front.