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"Nude Male with Lyre, " Rare Bronze Sculpture by Cummings, San Francisco Artist

$7,750
£5,917.09
€6,837.15
CA$10,879.53
A$12,126.37
CHF 6,362.29
MX$148,082.78
NOK 80,560.45
SEK 76,141.88
DKK 51,028.59

About the Item

Masterfully conceived and executed, this highly rare, perhaps unique, bronze sculpture captures a young male nude figure twisting to his right to pluck the strings of his lyre. Perhaps a reference to Orpheus who was able to charm all living creatures, the sculptor Earl Cummings depicts his subject with a movie star-handsome visage and a slender, lithe physique. Cummings lived in San Francisco in the early 20th century, and was the only sculptor from that city to be featured in the 1929 exhibition, "Contemporary American Sculpture," presented at The California Palace of the Legion of Honor in conjunction with the National Sculpture Society. His early works so impressed William Randolph Hearst's mother that she sent him to study at the E´cole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Back in San Francisco, he taught modeling classes at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art for years, created a number of works for the Bohemian Club, and donated another male nude sculpture, "La Soif" or "Thirst", for the park in Marini Plaza. The sculpture is signed, and has the foundry mark of Roman Bronze Works, America's foremost Fine Art foundry at the time.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)Width: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)Depth: 5.5 in (13.97 cm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Bronze,Cast
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    circa 1920s
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU865120944602

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