Georges H. Laurent Art

Balancing Elephant Louis-Albert Carvin (France, 1875-1951) Bronze, marble Circa 1930s, Art Deco 8 x 7.5 x 2 (4 1/4 x 7 1/2 x 1 7/8 figure) inches Artist Louis-Albert Carvin, born in Paris in 1875, was exposed to art from an early age through his painter father. Carvin's formal education in art began at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under artists like Émmanuel Frémiet and Georges Gardet. Over the years, artist Louis-Albert Carvin became a renowned sculptor, dedicating his life’s work to the modeling of human and animal figures. He studied under Fremiet and Gardet and became a member of the Société des Artistes Français, exhibiting at the Salon des Artists Francais from 1894 until 1933 winning the Medal of Honor in his first year in 1894. Remarkably, he sculpted La Muse de l’Aviation, the bronze trophy...

An official artist of the Nazi regime, trained in Montparnasse in the 1930s, Arno Breker continued to sculpt after the fall of the Third Reich, producing large-scale public commissions in Germany and portraits of prominent figures. The two small bronzes presented here, dated around 1978, are part of a long tradition of prancing horses dating back to antiquity. The asymmetrical treatment of the two front legs and the inclination of the head make these two copies of the same artwork a highly decorative pair. 1. Arno Breker, a prolific sculptor, from the Bohemia of Montparnasse to the commissions from the Third Reich ... and from the Federal Republic of Germany The son of a stone carver, Arno Breker studied fine art and anatomy in his native Elberfeld. At the age of 20, he entered the Düsseldorf Academy of Art. He moved to Paris in 1926, where he continued his training in the studio of Maillol, who dubbed him "the German Michelangelo of the twentieth century". He shared a studio with Alexandre Calder and frequented Jean Cocteau, Foujita, Brancusi, Pablo Picasso and other artists of the bohemian Paris of the time. It was also in Paris in 1933 that he met Demetra Messala, the daughter of a Greek diplomat who posed for Maillol and Picasso, whom he married in 1937. Having won the Prussian Prix de Rome in 1932, he left Paris to stay at the Villa Massimo, the German Academy in Rome. Returning to Germany in 1934, his style evolved towards a more marked imitation of ancient sculpture. He created two monumental statues for Berlin's Olympic Stadium, before being appointed professor at the Berlin College of Fine Arts in 1937. He came to the attention of the Reich Propaganda Ministry, which awarded him several commissions and provided him with three large studios in which Breker produced many monumental sculptures to the glory of the regime. On June 23, 1940, Breker accompanied Adolf Hitler during a visit to Paris. During the Occupation, his political connections enabled him to intervene on behalf of many artists pursued by the Nazis: for example, he protected Pablo Picasso (then a Communist) from Kommandantur officers. Most of Arno Breker's work was destroyed in Berlin at the end of the war in 1945 by bombing and intentional destruction perpetrated by soldiers of the victorious powers. After the fall of the Nazi regime, however, Arno Breker was never prosecuted. He opened a new studio in Düsseldorf, where he sculpted until his death in 1991. He then carried out several public commissions in Germany (Bayreuth, Wuppertal), as well as portraits of numerous personalities, including King Mohammed V of Morocco, Léopold Sedar Senghor (commissioned by the Académie Française in 1978) and the two chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer and Ludwig Erhard. The Arno Breker Museum in Nörvenich is now exhibiting some of his artworks. 2. Related artworks: from the Wild Horses of the Quirinal to the Horses of Marly The prancing horse is a major iconographic theme, found in a series of sculptures from Antiquity, the Renaissance and the Classical Age. Various photos from Arno Breker's studio in Berlin confirm the predominant place of equine representations in his work (alongside male nude statues), and confirm that this reduced version created in 1978 is part of the artist's preferred repertoire. Prancing horses are generally associated with a male figure in a group that, through a reference drawn from Antiquity, symbolizes man's domination over nature. In this respect, it is very interesting to compare our small bronzes with the horse forming part of a large sculpture by Arno Breker (made in 1936 and probably destroyed in 1945) depicting Alexander taming Bucephalus. This statue is itself directly inspired by one of the best-known works of 18th-century French sculpture...

Hermann Volz (1847 Karlsruhe - 1914 ibid.), Naked warrior with short sword, c. 1935. Partially (?) patinated bronze with cast plinth mounted on a black marble base (6.8 cm high). 32....

Charles Edouard Richefeu (1868-1945) A stunning dated 1926. A faun and nude woman dancing. Signed RICHEFEU in the bronze. Foundry mark stamp "R. COTTIN & FILS Paris Bronze". Definitely inspired by Diagilev Russian Ballet and Nijinsky dancer on Claude Debussy...

Bushbuck by Charles DELHOMMEAU (1883-1970) Sculpture with a nuanced reddish-brown patina Signed on the base "Delhommeau" Sand cast France circa 1938 height 27,5 cm base 20,5 x 7,5 ...

ERTE "Rue de La Paix" Signed/Numbered BRONZE SCULPTURE By Erte Type: Sculpture Media: Patina on Bronze Image Dimensions: 14 x 6.75 x 3.25 inches Year Produced: 1987 Edition Size: 241...

"Femme de luxe" (Bronze) by Erte Type: Sculpture Media: Patina on Bronze Dimensions: 13 3/4" High Year Produced: 1986 Edition Size: 500 Numbered, 35 AP Edition Number: 13/500 In Exce...

"Femme de luxe" (Bronze) by Erte Type: Sculpture Media: Patina on Bronze Dimensions: 18 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 7" Year Produced: 1990 Edition Size: 500 Numbered, 12 AP, 2 HC Edition Number: ...

Joseph Mario Korbel (Czech/American, 1882-1954). Period fine example bronze, dark brown patina, modeled as a nude female kneeling and tying her sandal, raised on a stepped black marb...

Bronze relief sculpture on table mirror. Incised Erte signature with stamped numbered edition, foundry and date. From the edition of 250. Certific...

"Return from the Hunt" also named '"Return from the Tiger hunt" by Roger GODCHAUX (1878-1958) Rare and remarkable bronze group with a nuanced dark greenish brown patina Signed on t...

La Mystérieuse was inspired by Erté’s design for a wedding gown published in Harper’s Bazar in 1923. Erté wrote, “The name comes from the effect of mystery of this exquisite outfit. The dress was designed to be in white crêpe embroidered with geometric designs in silver and adorned with snow-white ermine...