Null After FRÉDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (Colmar, 1834-Paris, 1904).

"Lion of Belf…
Description

After FRÉDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (Colmar, 1834-Paris, 1904). "Lion of Belfort". Patinated bronze. Signed and with foundry stamp. Measurements: 8 x 3,5 x 12 cm. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. In 1853, Bartholdi presented a sculptural group with the theme of the Good Samaritan to the Paris Salon of 1853. The statue was later recreated in bronze. Two years after his Salon debut, his hometown of Colmar commissioned him to create a bronze sculpture of Jean Rapp, a Napoleonic general. In 1855 and 1856, Bartholdi traveled through Yemen and Egypt with fellow travelers such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and other "orientalist" painters. The trip sparked Bartholdi's interest in colossal sculpture.In 1869, Bartholdi returned to Egypt to propose the construction of a new lighthouse at the entrance to the newly completed Suez Canal. The lighthouse, which was to be called Egypt Brings Light to Asia and was in the form of a huge draped figure holding a torch, was not commissioned. Both the khedive and Lesseps rejected Bartholdi's statue proposal, citing its high cost.

55 

After FRÉDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (Colmar, 1834-Paris, 1904). "Lion of Belfort". Patinated bronze. Signed and with foundry stamp. Measurements: 8 x 3,5 x 12 cm. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. In 1853, Bartholdi presented a sculptural group with the theme of the Good Samaritan to the Paris Salon of 1853. The statue was later recreated in bronze. Two years after his Salon debut, his hometown of Colmar commissioned him to create a bronze sculpture of Jean Rapp, a Napoleonic general. In 1855 and 1856, Bartholdi traveled through Yemen and Egypt with fellow travelers such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and other "orientalist" painters. The trip sparked Bartholdi's interest in colossal sculpture.In 1869, Bartholdi returned to Egypt to propose the construction of a new lighthouse at the entrance to the newly completed Suez Canal. The lighthouse, which was to be called Egypt Brings Light to Asia and was in the form of a huge draped figure holding a torch, was not commissioned. Both the khedive and Lesseps rejected Bartholdi's statue proposal, citing its high cost.

Auction is over for this lot. See the results

You may also like

AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (1834-1904) Head of America circa 1856-1863 Patinated plaster in preparation for the Bruat monument, Colmar (Minor accidents) Head of America, sculpture in patinated plaster by Auguste Bartholdi, circa 1856-1863 HEIGHT 58 CM - H. 22,8 IN. Provenance By oral tradition, acquired by the previous owner directly from the descendants of the Bartholdi family. Related works - Auguste Bartholdi, Statue de l'amiral Bruat, 1857-1864, bronze, Champs de Mars, Colmar ; - Auguste Bartholdi, Projet pour le Monument Bruat, tinted plaster model, 1856, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar; - Auguste Bartholdi, Tête de l'Afrique, Fragment de l'ancienne fontaine, pink sandstone, 1863, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar; - Auguste Bartholdi, Head of America, Fragment of the old fountain, pink sandstone, 1863, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar. Related literature - Stanislas Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'École française au dix-neuvième siècle, t. I, edition of p. 65 ; - Jacques Betz, Bartholdi, Les éditions de Minuits, Paris, 1954, pp. 46, 47 and 49; - Robert Belot and Daniel Bermond, Bartholdi, Perrin, 2004, pp.117-119; - Robert Belot, Bartholdi, l'homme qui inventa la liberté, collection Biographies et mythes historiques, Ellipses, 2019, pp.159-169, 314, 527. Of rare modernity and powerful forms, this plaster head of America corresponds to the definitive state of the Allegory of the New Continent. America is "represented by a young man whose appearance still has something of the savage about it; with his left foot he pushes aside old idols, under his elbow a cogwheel symbolizes industry, and an oar, the genius of navigation". His forehead is topped with a star. This star originally adorned the forehead of the woman who was to represent Europe "as a symbol of the light of which Europe is the center". While it has been said that this added star was a Masonic sign, a discreet sign of Bruat's commitment to Freemasonry, its transfer from the forehead of "Old Europe" to "Young America" takes on a highly symbolic and precursory dimension in the gesture of Bartholdi, who, from this time onwards, wished to convey a humanist message through art. More than a decade before Bartholdi, close to the abolitionist movement, became close to Édouard de Laboulaye, a moderate republican who saw America as a model of liberty in 1865 and proposed his Statue of Liberty project, he presented here an optimistic image of the Continent, symbolizing the democratic ideal and the welcome of immigrants.

AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (1834-1904) Head of Africa circa 1863 Patinated plaster in preparation for the Bruat monument, Colmar (Minor accidents) Head of Africa, sculpture in patinated plaster by Auguste Bartholdi, circa 1863 HEIGHT 58 CM - H. 22,8 IN. Provenance By oral tradition, acquired by the previous owner directly from the descendants of the Bartholdi family. Related works - Auguste Bartholdi, Statue de l'amiral Bruat, 1857-1864, bronze, Champs de Mars, Colmar ; - Auguste Bartholdi, Projet pour le Monument Bruat, tinted plaster model, 1856, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar; - Auguste Bartholdi, Tête de l'Afrique, Fragment de l'ancienne fontaine, pink sandstone, 1863, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar; - Auguste Bartholdi, Head of America, Fragment of the old fountain, pink sandstone, 1863, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar. Related literature - Stanislas Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'École française au dix-neuvième siècle, t. I, edition of p. 65 ; - Jacques Betz, Bartholdi, Les éditions de Minuits, Paris, 1954, pp. 46, 47 and 49; - Robert Belot and Daniel Bermond, Bartholdi, Perrin, 2004, pp.117-119; - Robert Belot, Bartholdi, l'homme qui inventa la liberté, collection Biographies et mythes historiques, Ellipses, 2019, pp.159-169, 314, 527. This head represents a black man with powerful, hard features, frozen in an expression that is at once dignified, proud and bitter. In the abolitionist context of the 1860s, Bartholdi offered both a powerful image of the African victim of slavery but determined to free himself from its oppressive chains, and his first work conveying his political commitment and attachment to universalist values. The impact of this representation of Africa was also immediate for certain personalities adhering to the same values, such as Dr. Schweitzer, physician and philosopher, future Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1952, whose Bartholdi Museum preserves a moving testimony, entitled 'Am I in the grip of a dream or a hallucination' and fully transcribed in Robert Belot's 2019 biography: "... What I look upon as the noblest jewel in Colmar is "le Nègre" (a term of the time transcribed verbatim to remain faithful to the original text) who with his hands crossed above his knees the deep dazed gaze is lying at the foot of the Admiral. Yes, this "Nègre" is the noblest, most original work of our sculptural age. I know of no statue that has caused me such marvellous emotion, that moves me so deeply, to the very depths of my soul. The truth of nature and the truth of the ideal are blended to such a marvelous degree...".