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ITALIAN COLLECTION, 19th CENTURY, AFTER PIETRO TACCA (1577- 1640) Chained captives Pair of bronzes with brown and gilded patinas On wooden bases painted in imitation of marble and porphyry Pair of bronze sculptures with brown and gilded patina, 19th century Italian school, after Pietro Tacca HEIGHT 44 CM - H. 17,3 IN. Reference work Pietro Tacca, Monument to Ferdinand Medici, 1620-1623, Piazzetta della Darsena, Livorno Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) Born in Colmar, where his family had settled in the 17th century, Auguste Bartholdi trained in Ary Scheffer's studio, who recognized his talent for sculpture, which he then studied with Jean-François Soitoux. After a highly formative trip to the Orient with painter Jean-Léon Gérôme in the 1850s, Bartholdi returned to France and took part in a number of public competitions. He was particularly sought after by his native town, for which he erected a monument to General Rapp in 1854. In 1857, the town of Colmar commissioned him to erect a monument to Colmerian Admiral Armand Joseph Bruat, a hero of the French Navy and the Crimean War who had died two years earlier. While complying with the Colmar mayor's wish to erect the municipality's very first continuous fountain, the sculptor conceived an ambitious five-part initial monument project: the figure of the victorious admiral stands at his command post on the ship's deck, holding a telescope and a map with an anchor at his feet. The statue overlooks a circular basin adorned with the city's four coats of arms framed by a sea monster, and divided into four sections on which allegorical figures inspired by antiquity recline. The water is to flow through four antique trireme prows. The project was immediately approved by the municipality, but the lack of financial prospects led to objections and delays. As the project had to be simplified, Bartholdi made a number of modifications, notably the figures in the basin, symbolizing the four continents the Admiral had travelled to as a servant of France. Again for reasons of cost, in 1861 the Committee asked Bartholdi to abandon these allegorical figures, which were ultimately not removed thanks to a fortunate anonymous donation (actually from his mother). In 1863, Bartholdi exhibited the model at the Salon. The monument was finally erected in bronze for the statue of Bruat, and in Vosges sandstone for the elements of the basin, and inaugurated on August 21, 1864. Unfortunately, the monument in its original state is no longer known, as it was partially destroyed on August 30, 1940 by the German occupying forces. The heads of the Continents were salvaged, however, and are now housed in the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar. In 1958, the monument was rebuilt around Bruat's bronze statue, the only original element preserved, on a fountain surrounded by new stone allegories by sculptor Gérard Choain and architect Michel Porte. These two heads in patinated plaster correspond to the preparatory and final versions for these heads of Africa and America, which underwent a veritable rollercoaster ride from conception to preservation. These two works are rare testimonies to the artist's creative process, and fortunately complete the meagre corpus of works, along with the preparatory model in patinated plaster and the sandstone heads of the Continents preserved at the Musée Bartholdi in Colmar, concerning the conception of this monument, which is considered a milestone in the artist's career. As the artist's specialist Robert Belot points out, Bartholdi conceived not only this monument to a local hero, but also his first work "with a philosophical resonance and global scope", conveying in it the message, to anyone who would see it, of his political commitment to the struggle against slavery, his support for abolitionist thinking and universalist values.

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ITALIAN COLLECTION, 19th CENTURY, AFTER PIETRO TACCA (1577- 1640) Chained captives Pair of bronzes with brown and gilded patinas On wooden bases painted in imitation of marble and porphyry Pair of bronze sculptures with brown and gilded patina, 19th century Italian school, after Pietro Tacca HEIGHT 44 CM - H. 17,3 IN. Reference work Pietro Tacca, Monument to Ferdinand Medici, 1620-1623, Piazzetta della Darsena, Livorno Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) Born in Colmar, where his family had settled in the 17th century, Auguste Bartholdi trained in Ary Scheffer's studio, who recognized his talent for sculpture, which he then studied with Jean-François Soitoux. After a highly formative trip to the Orient with painter Jean-Léon Gérôme in the 1850s, Bartholdi returned to France and took part in a number of public competitions. He was particularly sought after by his native town, for which he erected a monument to General Rapp in 1854. In 1857, the town of Colmar commissioned him to erect a monument to Colmerian Admiral Armand Joseph Bruat, a hero of the French Navy and the Crimean War who had died two years earlier. While complying with the Colmar mayor's wish to erect the municipality's very first continuous fountain, the sculptor conceived an ambitious five-part initial monument project: the figure of the victorious admiral stands at his command post on the ship's deck, holding a telescope and a map with an anchor at his feet. The statue overlooks a circular basin adorned with the city's four coats of arms framed by a sea monster, and divided into four sections on which allegorical figures inspired by antiquity recline. The water is to flow through four antique trireme prows. The project was immediately approved by the municipality, but the lack of financial prospects led to objections and delays. As the project had to be simplified, Bartholdi made a number of modifications, notably the figures in the basin, symbolizing the four continents the Admiral had travelled to as a servant of France. Again for reasons of cost, in 1861 the Committee asked Bartholdi to abandon these allegorical figures, which were ultimately not removed thanks to a fortunate anonymous donation (actually from his mother). In 1863, Bartholdi exhibited the model at the Salon. The monument was finally erected in bronze for the statue of Bruat, and in Vosges sandstone for the elements of the basin, and inaugurated on August 21, 1864. Unfortunately, the monument in its original state is no longer known, as it was partially destroyed on August 30, 1940 by the German occupying forces. The heads of the Continents were salvaged, however, and are now housed in the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar. In 1958, the monument was rebuilt around Bruat's bronze statue, the only original element preserved, on a fountain surrounded by new stone allegories by sculptor Gérard Choain and architect Michel Porte. These two heads in patinated plaster correspond to the preparatory and final versions for these heads of Africa and America, which underwent a veritable rollercoaster ride from conception to preservation. These two works are rare testimonies to the artist's creative process, and fortunately complete the meagre corpus of works, along with the preparatory model in patinated plaster and the sandstone heads of the Continents preserved at the Musée Bartholdi in Colmar, concerning the conception of this monument, which is considered a milestone in the artist's career. As the artist's specialist Robert Belot points out, Bartholdi conceived not only this monument to a local hero, but also his first work "with a philosophical resonance and global scope", conveying in it the message, to anyone who would see it, of his political commitment to the struggle against slavery, his support for abolitionist thinking and universalist values.

Estimate 5 000 - 8 000 EUR

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For sale on Wednesday 03 Jul : 17:30 (CEST)
paris, France
Tajan
+33153303030
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