Arthur Dupagne (1895 Liège - 1961 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre), Panther striding upwards, c. 1938. Patinated bronze in full cast on a hollow-cast terrain base, signed in the cast “Dupagne”, 22 cm (length) x 13.5 cm (height) x 6 cm (width), 1.35 kg.
- Patina somewhat rubbed, slightly bumped in places, in good overall condition.
- The powerful elegance of animalism -
The powerful panther strides up a rock formation and pauses at the edge, overhanging it with his left paw to peer into the distance. He seems to be surveying his territory and searching for prey at the same time. Even if the predator pauses, the impulse to move upward may continue with a mighty leap the next moment; after all, the panther seems to have already caught the scent and made visual contact.
The staircase-like rock formation shows the panther's strength, which is present down to the tip of its tail, in the elegance of its supple, powerful movement. Arthur Dupagne certainly studied these movements in nature, and yet he formulates the musculature in the geometricized language of Art Deco. This does not transform the panther into an abstract creature of art, but rather expresses the fullness of power and the exciting dynamics of its inner movement. Dupagne also transferred the artistic experience he had gained in the Congo of a powerful, original African art...
Category
1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures