721 - Constantin Emile Meunier

Constantin Emile Meunier 1831 Etterbeek – 1905 Ixelles – *Le Faucheur* – Bronze. Brown patina. 55.5 × 43 × 22 cm. Signed on the base: C. Meunier. Stamped on the rear side: ATELIER. MEUNIER. 59 RUE L'ABBAYE. Cast posthumously. Provenance: Private collection, Lower Saxony. - Lit.: Th.-B. XXIV, p. 453. Constantin Meunier ranks among the most important Belgian sculptors of the late 19th century and is regarded as a pioneer of modern social sculpture. With his impressive depictions of miners, industrial workers, and farm laborers, he bestowed upon working people—for the first time—a monumental dignity that had previously been reserved primarily for heroic and mythological figures.In “Le Faucheur” as well, Meunier elevates physical labor to a symbol of human strength and dignity. The powerful modeling and the focus on the human form are characteristic of his unmistakable artistic language. His works mark a significant turning point in European sculpture on the path to modernism.