Alva Studios Art

Randolph John Rogers (American, 1825 - 1892) Randolph Rogers' Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii debuted in 1856 to critical and public acclaim, solidifying Rogers’ position as a pre-eminent American sculptor and it remains one of the artist’s most celebrated works today. The subject of Nydia is drawn from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii 1834. After touring the ruins of the ancient city in 1833, and inspired by the stories of blinding volcanic ash, he composed the tale of Nydia, a slave who led her master, Glaucus, to safety. Rogers depicts Nydia at the moment that she and Glaucus have become separated in their perilous journey through the rubble and Nydia seeks familiarity in the surrounding chaos, her distress evident in her pained expression. The grace of the sculpture is at odds with the turmoil portrayed; a toppled Corinthian capital lies at her feet and obstructs her next step, indicated by the tilt of her back foot and grip on her walking stick. Examples of this model can be found in major American collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Literature, Millard F Rogers, Jr. Randolph Rogers, American Sculptor in Rome. University of Massachusetts Press, 1971, American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1986. Joyce K Schiller. "Nydia, A Forgotten Icon of the Nineteenth Century." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Born in Waterloo, New York, Randolph John Rogers became an expatriate* sculptor of idealized figures, portraits, and commemorative works in Neo-Classical* and Realist* styles. He worked in clay, plaster, marble and bronze, and lived both in Italy and the United States. He made 167 examples of Nydia in two sizes (varies depending on base height) 36" and 54'. Rogers was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and as a young man did woodcuts* for the local newspaper, The Michigan Argus, and also worked as a baker's assistant and a dry goods clerk. In 1847, he moved to New York City, where he hoped to find work as an engraver*, but failing to do so, worked in a dry goods store owned by John Steward...

Patrick O'Reilly The Gardener with Sunflower Bronze 47 1/4 x 49 1/4 x 15 3/4 in 120 x 125 x 40 cm This piece is entitled The Gardener with Sunflower. It is a large scale outdoor scu...

This European metal sculpture, most likely bronze or brass, is probably Anteros, God of requited love. The piece altogether is 18" in height; the figure itself 7.25". The bottom and...

A good antique Italian Grand Tour Bronze and marble bust of Dante Alighieri, circa 1880. The bronze is most likely Florentine and mod...

Very Rare! Ex Nihilo, working model, is the intermediate scale model for the full-scale plaster for the final stone sculpture of Ex Nihilo, commissioned as part of The Creation Sculptures at Washington National Cathedral...

BLUE HANDLE HORSE is a stoneware clay sculpture with blue clay inlay by Brooklyn, New York artist Rene Murray. It measures 24"H x 18"W x 7"D. It's an encha...

Antique Bronze Miniature Barnyard Scene (Cow, Sheep & Goat) Christophe Fratin (France, 1801-1864) Sand cast bronze 5 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches Highly refined and sensitively modeled miniature bronze representing a small herd of cattle, sheep and cattle on the terrace. Despite its small size, this bronze offers a complete view of a small herd of livestock: a bull is lying in a landscape near a sheep and a goat climbing a tree above a rocky mound. Here we find the skillful hand of the animalier sculptor Christophe Fratin (French, 1801-1864), immensely famous in the 19th century for his thoughtfully crafted animal...

Cefiro is derived from the Spanish word for Zephyr, meaning a soft gentle wind which brings spring to the Mediterranean. The word also depicts beauty and playfulness. This figure p...

Maxine Kim Stussy, a prolific sculptor and painter from the late 1940’s to present. Maxine led an incredibly artistic life traveling the world with h...

Antique Horse Bronze Exceptional Bronze of a Draft Horse Pierre Jules Mêne (French, 1810-1879) Circa 1860s 4 3/4 (W) x 3.25 (H) As Mêne personally ov...

Marble-based bronze statuette depicting Cupid, holding an arrow in his hand, walking caressing a lion's mane, lowered in the act of affectionately licking his little foot. The subjec...

L'Hiver, which is French for winter. An evocative title which pretty much explains the piece. Number 1 out of a production of Seven. Artist Statement: I am very happy to announce that two of my bronze works are now available in a limited edition of 7. The first one, shown above, is my vision of Eros. He is more popularly known in the Roman interpretation of a chubby baby or young boy with an bow and arrow. I have always been more intrigued with the original Greek embodiment of the this deity as a young man. More than the god of love, Eros was a personification of the power of creation. He was balanced by his antithesis was Thanatos, that of destruction. In fact, Thanatos is currently in the design process. This work will exist in an edition of 7 and 2 artist's proofs. Each piece is hand chased by myself and I apply the patina as well. The sculpture was created using the Lost Wax...