拍品专文
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) is most celebrated today for his public monuments, in particular the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour. Besides these vast statuary programs and fountains, Bartholdi also produced smaller bronze indoor groups.
The present bronze jardinière is a rare example of his decorative oeuvre; it is a bronze cast of a marble version in the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar, listed as Jardière - Les Maraudeurs. In this instance the sculptor is looking back to Italian 16th century prototypes, in particular the production of small-scale functional bronzes in the north of Italy. He was not the first to do so, for earlier works by Henri de Triqueti, such as his Porteuse de raisins and his Paire de chandeliers dans le style Renaissance, reveal a strong Italian vein (cf. Grand Palais, op. cit.). Bartholdi has however, imbued his two Fauns with the vigour and mythological wit typical of Paduan and Venetian Renaissance work. The decorative heap of vine, realistic woven basket, pert tails and facial expressions, nevertheless, distinctly catagorise this as a 19th century imaginative and elegant revival.
The present bronze jardinière is a rare example of his decorative oeuvre; it is a bronze cast of a marble version in the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar, listed as Jardière - Les Maraudeurs. In this instance the sculptor is looking back to Italian 16th century prototypes, in particular the production of small-scale functional bronzes in the north of Italy. He was not the first to do so, for earlier works by Henri de Triqueti, such as his Porteuse de raisins and his Paire de chandeliers dans le style Renaissance, reveal a strong Italian vein (cf. Grand Palais, op. cit.). Bartholdi has however, imbued his two Fauns with the vigour and mythological wit typical of Paduan and Venetian Renaissance work. The decorative heap of vine, realistic woven basket, pert tails and facial expressions, nevertheless, distinctly catagorise this as a 19th century imaginative and elegant revival.