Cheval Libre (Free Horse)

1868

This artwork "Chevre Allongee (Reclining Goat)" c. 1860, is bronze sculpture after renown French artist Antoine Louis Barye, 1796-1875. Signature is impressed in the bronze. The subject size is 4.25 x 7 x 3.35 inches, including marble base is 5.25 x 4 x 7.75 inches. It is in excellent condition. About the artist: Antoine-Louis Barye lived his entire life in Paris and may never have left France. He was born in 1795 (a date revised in the 1990s from 1796 as a result of Martin Sonnabend's recalculation of the Revolutionary calendar). He is reported to have had minimal formal schooling even in reading, and to have acquired his extensive liberal-arts education on his own. His initial professional training was in metalwork: first with his father, a goldsmith from Lyons, then with a metal engraver in military equipment, and finally with Martin-Guillaume Biennais (active 1800-1832), then master goldsmith to Napoleon. After serving in the army from 1812 to 1814, Barye trained in the fine arts with sculptor François-Joseph Bosio (1768-1845) and painter Baron Gros (1771-1835). He then studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1818 to 1823. His miniature medallion, Milo of Crotona Devoured by a Lion, won an honorable mention in metal engraving in 1819, but he failed to win the Prix de Rome. He worked as a craftsman for the goldsmith Jacques-Henri Fauconnier (1779-1839) from 1823 to 1831 and made his Salon debut in 1827 with a selection of busts. Barye made his critical and public mark as a sculptor four years later, in the Salon of 1831, with groups representing predatory violence in the wild. His first government commission came soon after, precisely for such a subject. The Minister of the Interior purchased Barye's monumental plaster Lion (since called Lion Crushing a Serpent), shown in 1833, and had it cast in bronze by Honoré Gonon and shown in 1836, before placing it in the public Tuileries Gardens (now Musée du Louvre, Paris). In 1834 Barye was chosen for a project that was never executed, the colossal eagle as the crowning element of the triumphal arch at the Etoile. Around 1836 the government commissioned him to execute the emblematic animal decoration on the July Column at the place de la Bastille, inaugurated in 1840. He produced a monumental effigy of Saint Clotilde for the Church of the Madeleine, Paris, in the early 1840s. In 1846 the government commissioned a pendant Seated Lion for the Tuileries Lion Crushing a Serpent (1847, bronze, Portal, Pavillon de Flore, Palais du Louvre, Paris). During these same years the royal family began buying and commissioning small-scale works from Barye for their private collections. Around 1834, the duc d'Orléans commissioned a highly publicized surtout de table representing hunts of different regions and historical periods, possibly one of several tabletop projects that he ordered from Barye. The duc's sister Marie d'Orléans allegedly commissioned a lost-wax bronze of Barye's Charles VI Surprised in the Forest of Le Mans (location unknown; later serial variants), a model first shown in the Salon of 1833; his brother, the duc de Montpensier, apparently commissioned a pair of figurative...

This sculpture titled "Arabesque (Ballet Dancer)" 2001 is a cast bronze sculpture with silver patina by noted contemporary American artist Rebecca Clark. Signature, date and numbering /500 are impressed in the bronze on the deck. The sculpture size without the marble base is 28.25 x 17.75 x 13 inches, with the marble base is 29.5 x 17.75 x 13 inches. It is in mint condition. About the artist: Rebecca A. Clark is a Fine Artist and Creative Director with over 20 years of professional experience working in the fine art field in New York City. Her masterful artworks are collected by prominent art collectors worldwide. Rebecca specializes in figurative bronze sculptures, oil paintings, drawings and monumental works of art that embody dynamic strength and classic iconic beauty. Her artworks range from sensuous figurative sculptures to magnificent heroic size monuments. Commissioned works include “Battling Stallions”, her 18 ft. tall monumental bronze sculpture at the luxury gated development “Le Chevalier” in Barrington Heights, West Linn, Oregon, as well as her elegant 9 ft. tall ballerina bronze sculpture titled “Arabesque” on public display at the Oregon Ballet Theatre. Exclusive custom created works of art portray diverse concepts and themes for private and corporate collectors. Signature series include: Heroic series (Honoring American military Heroes), Inspirational, Classic Nudes and Romantic among other series and sculpture projects in development. Rebecca was born an artist and has always had the desire to achieve excellence in all of her endeavors. From a very early age she was immersed in imaginative creative works such as building models of futuristic cities, paintings, sculptures and a multitude of drawings. In 1981, at the age of 17, Rebecca moved from Lake Oswego, Oregon to New York City to pursue a career in fine art and design at the Parsons School of Design. Shortly after she arrived, Rebecca began her professional artistic career assisting the renowned illustrator Antonio Lopez. At age 18, Rebecca was hired by the famed designer Halston, and began working directly with him as a fashion designer and illustrator. Subsequently, she was discovered by the Ford Models agency and traveled around the world as a top international fashion model. Rebecca worked with renowned fashion photographers such as Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier and others. Rebecca is experienced in working with the major media, including international publications such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, The New York Times and Glamour, among others, as well as in television. She was featured in a national Diet Slice-Style television commercial that was shown during halftime at the 1987 Super Bowl. Rebecca also appeared in top fashion shows in New York City and Paris, France and in international advertising campaigns such as Revlon’s “The Most Unforgettable Women In The World” ads photographed by Richard Avedon. In 1991, Rebecca left a prestigious modeling career to return to her true creative passion. She began creating a series of beautiful and universally appealing fine bronze sculptures and many commissioned works. In 1998, she began oil painting and studied at the New York Academy of Art, while creating oil paintings depicting the classic nude, equine, inspirational themes and portrait commissions for select art collectors. In 2001, Rebecca developed several digital film projects through her studies in the Film Directors Program at New York University. From 2001 to the present, she continues to create bronze sculptures, drawings, and oil paintings for private art collectors. In 2011, Rebecca was officially endorsed and directed by the National Special Forces Association to create The National Special Forces Green Beret...

Impressive Bronze Relief by Käthe Kollwitz ( 1867-1945, Germany ). Created 1938 in memory of her friend Ernst Barlach. Bronze brown patinated. On the left side signed: Kollwitz. He...

This highly evocative bronze by Vincenzo Vela captures the deposed Emperor Napoléon on his deathbed, holding a map of Europe and lost in thought about what might have been. Remarkable among most portrayals of the exiled leader, this highly detailed sculpture depicts Napoléon at his most vulnerable. Nonetheless, Vela perfectly captures his still-heroic bearing, which imparts to this work a monumental quality and quiet dignity. The mate to this figure is the colossal marble at the Musée du Château de Malmaison, which was shown at the Paris Salon of 1867. The founder of the verismo movement in Italy, Vela was one of the great exponents of realism in sculpture. Born in Ligornetto, Switzerland in 1820, he studied under celebrated sculptor, Benedetto Cacciatori. He was also influenced both by the work of Tuscan sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, who seamlessly combined neoclassicism with naturalism and the romantic painting of Francesco Hayez...