Gustave Belard (d.1912) was born in Toulouse, and studied under the guidance of three significant French sculptors, François Jouffroy (d.1882), Jean-Joseph-Alexandre de Falguière (d.1900) and Antonin Mercié (d.1916). He regularly exhibited at the Paris Salon: 1880 with Au bord de la mer, in 1882 with Idylle, (both receiving an honourable mention) and in 1883 with Faucheur. From 1883, Belard distanced himself from the Salon until he returned for a final time in 1899 with his marble group, Au bord de la mer (S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'ecole francaise, vol. 1, p. 102). He was a member of the Societé des Artistes français.