Description
Jean-Joseph Marie Anatole MARQUET de VASSELOT(1840-1904) Monument to Balzac (1799-1850) 1888 Terracotta proof Dedicated "To my friend Theurault" on the base Signed, located and dated "VASSELOT / Paris 1888" on the base H. 62 cm (Small chips and cracks) Anatole Marquet de Vasselot was a sculptor with an atypical profile. Initially an editor at the Ministry of the Interior, he was a late starter in his career as an artist, studying under Jouffroy, Lebourg and Bonnat. He was responsible for numerous monuments and portraits, including those of Lincoln, Lamartine and, in particular, Balzac. For twenty years, Marquet de Vasselot was fascinated by Balzac's personality. As early as 1860, he presented a bust of the writer in terracotta, then in bronze at the 1870 Salon. Critically acclaimed, the portrait was commissioned in marble by the French government in 1875. In 1891, he took part in the competition organized by La Société des Gens de Lettre, then headed by Emile Zola, for the commission of a monument to Balzac. The competition, which was highly politicized around Zola in the midst of the Dreyfus affair and ultimately won by Rodin by 12 votes to 8, was responsible for the famous monument on Boulevard Raspail in Paris. This terracotta statuette, dedicated to a certain Theurault (probably the jurist Aristide Theurault), is a rare proof of the competition project. Another unsigned copy is kept at the Maison de Balzac in Paris (H.62.5 cm, n°inv. BAL880). Expert | Cabinet Sculpture Collection
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Jean-Joseph Marie Anatole MARQUET de VASSELOT(1840-1904) Monument to Balzac (1799-1850) 1888 Terracotta proof Dedicated "To my friend Theurault" on the base Signed, located and dated "VASSELOT / Paris 1888" on the base H. 62 cm (Small chips and cracks) Anatole Marquet de Vasselot was a sculptor with an atypical profile. Initially an editor at the Ministry of the Interior, he was a late starter in his career as an artist, studying under Jouffroy, Lebourg and Bonnat. He was responsible for numerous monuments and portraits, including those of Lincoln, Lamartine and, in particular, Balzac. For twenty years, Marquet de Vasselot was fascinated by Balzac's personality. As early as 1860, he presented a bust of the writer in terracotta, then in bronze at the 1870 Salon. Critically acclaimed, the portrait was commissioned in marble by the French government in 1875. In 1891, he took part in the competition organized by La Société des Gens de Lettre, then headed by Emile Zola, for the commission of a monument to Balzac. The competition, which was highly politicized around Zola in the midst of the Dreyfus affair and ultimately won by Rodin by 12 votes to 8, was responsible for the famous monument on Boulevard Raspail in Paris. This terracotta statuette, dedicated to a certain Theurault (probably the jurist Aristide Theurault), is a rare proof of the competition project. Another unsigned copy is kept at the Maison de Balzac in Paris (H.62.5 cm, n°inv. BAL880). Expert | Cabinet Sculpture Collection
