725 - Antoine Louis Barye

Antoine Louis Barye 1795 Paris – 1875 Paris – Tartar Warrior Halting His Horse – Bronze. Brown patina. H. 36 cm. Signed on the base: Barye. Foundry mark: F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR. Ref. - Lit.: Stuart Pivar, *The Barye Bronzes*, England, 1974, p. 59, and title page. Antoine-Louis Barye ranks among the most important French sculptors of the 19th century and is regarded as a pioneer of modern animal sculpture. As one of the leading figures in Romantic sculpture, he revolutionized the depiction of animals through his extraordinary anatomical precision and his impressive rendering of movement and expression. The composition “Guerrier tartare arrêtant son cheval” illustrates Barye’s masterful command of dynamic movement. The tension-filled interplay between rider and horse combines naturalistic observation with the dramatic expressiveness of Romanticism. The execution by the renowned Parisian bronze foundry Ferdinand Barbedienne underscores the composition’s significance within 19th-century French bronze art.