Alfred Finot

The Dawn

1910

The Sculpture : The Artist (L'Artiste) Impressive in size, measuring no less than 123 cm in height, and resting on its original base, Fraikin’s sculpture “L’Artiste” from 1872 reveals itself as a masterpiece. While the artist’s original plaster is now held in the museum bearing his name in Herentals, the present Carrara marble version is made for and exhibited for the first time at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1878, it has granted him the Légion d’honneur, France’s most distinguished medal. A paper document glued to the original base of this sculpture indicates that it was indeed this work that was presented at the Paris Salon in 1878 and not a reproduction. We have, to this day, never encountered a copy of this sculpture and assume that it must be unique as was often the case with royal commissions. Following its success at the Exposition Universelle, the present marble was sold to Prince de Stirbay and arranged to be gracing his palace on the outskirts of Paris. As noted by Guillaume Bijl, and specifically naming the present sculpture, this type of princely clientele wasn’t a rare feat for the artist: “Several families, mainly from nobility or with an industrialist background, embellish their castles and mansions with these beautiful and disarming works. (…) Of L’amour endormi a marble version was bought by the Duchess Maria of Russia and another version went to the noble house of von Lindenau. "L’Artiste" in marble went to Prince de Stirbay, and Les deux amours to the noble family van Bisschoffsheim.” With the present marble tucked away in its princely and private collection, the plaster model held in the Fraikin Museum has defended the artist’s reputation ever since. It was exhibited several times over the course of the past century and was recently granted the central position in the exhibition “In dialoog met de kunstenaar” held at the Art Center Hugo Voeten in 2019 and curated by the artist Guillaume Bijl. "L'Artiste" was created when the artist was at the height of both his reputation and skill. The delicacy and quality of the sculpture are a testament to Fraikin's greatness as an artist. Very few works exhibited at the World's Fair were deemed important enough to attract the attention of the art critics at the time. However, in his record of the World Fair, published in La Sculpture en Europe, the critic Henry Jouin dedicated this important passage to Fraikin's masterpiece: "Aux hommes de bataille, aux héros de nos luttes terrestres, si souvent assombries par le sang ou la haine...

Venus and Cupid by Jean-Marie Boucher : This white marble statue of Venus, gazing lovingly at a winged Cupid, was created around 1910. The same marble model was sold by Sotherby's London in their auction "19th and 20th Century Sculpture '' on November 26...

Leda and the Swan (Leda et le Cygne) by Edouard Houssin Beautiful marble sculpture representing a famous scene from Greek mythology: Leda and the Swan....

Marble sculpture of a fisherman by Cesare Lapini Impressive sculpture dated 1888 representing a young Neapolitan fisherman leaning proudly against a rock holding three fish along a...

This impressive sculpture in Carrara marble by the French artist Marius-Joseph Sain has been perfectly preserved for more than a century. The finesse of this work, the right arm ...

A MONUMENTAL PAIR OF ITALIAN ALABASTER VASES. VOLTERRA. CA 1850. The model of the vases is inspired on Ancient Roman wine ewers and decorated ...

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...

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...

Ñatural Sri Lanka corn flower blue sapphires pair for your earrings not treated not heated

Charming early 1900s alabaster sculpture of a young maiden, seated nude on a stump. This work dates to the period when the artist was active in Italy, during this time Ceccarelli's w...

Untitled #10 (female bust), 2016 from Los Infortunios De La Virtud series Antique porcelain bust with the intervention of oil, gold, silver, lea...

CASTLE CHANCELLOR is a porcelain clay sculpture with Turquoise Glaze and slip, by Brooklyn, New York artist Rene Murray. It measures 24"H x 22"W x 11"D. It...