Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741-1828), Seated Voltaire, bronze sculpture, 26 1/2". With a Barbedienne foundry mark. Inscribed "Houdon Fecit 1781". Also marked "A. Manigot"  More »

Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741-1828), Seated Voltaire, bronze sculpture, 26 1/2". With a Barbedienne foundry mark. Inscribed "Houdon Fecit 1781". Also marked "A. Manigot" on base. Houdon's depiction of the celebrated philospher François-Marie Arouet, called Voltaire, are among his most iconic images. His bust, executed in marble and placed on view in the artist's studio in March 1778 was viewed by 'all of Paris', and the full-size seated figure was completed for Voltaire's niece, Mme Denis, by 1780 (Jean-Antoine Houdon - Sculptor of the Enlightenment, op. cit., p. 349). Interestingly, the full-size model was actually preceded by a small gilt-bronze version made for the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, one of the philosopher's most devoted correspondents and admirers. COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: L. Réau, Houdon - son vie et son oeuvre, Paris, 1964, III and IV, no. 35, p. 19, pls. XXX and XXXI. Washington, Los Angeles and Versailles, National Gallery of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum and the Musée et Domaine de Versailles, Jean-Antoine Houdon - Sculptor of the Enlightenment, 4 May 2003 - 25 January 2004.   « Less

PAUL DUBOIS (French 1829-1905) A BRONZE SCULPTURE, " Tribunal," signed in the bronze. F. Barbedienne foundry. Height: 34 1/2".86cm.

PAUL DUBOIS (French 1829-1905) A BRONZE SCULPTURE, " Tribunal," signed in the bronze. F. Barbedienne foundry. Height: 34 1/2".86cm.   « Less

This is an orginal plaster sculpture by Belle Kinney from her barn in Boiceville, NY. It is a sculpture of George Washington that must have been a working model for a large  More »

This is an orginal plaster sculpture by Belle Kinney from her barn in Boiceville, NY. It is a sculpture of George Washington that must have been a working model for a large sculpture because it has lots of writing and dementions on it (see second photo). It does have lots of condition issues including chips, breaks and repairs. Even still, nice looking peice. Measures 15.5 inches high, 5 inches wide and 5.5 inches deep. Belle Marshall Kinney was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1890. Kinney is best known for her bronze outdoor sculpture that adorns public parks in several states. She was often inspired by classical sculpture, as were many monumental sculptors in the first half of the 20th century. Perhaps her greatest achievement was the re-creation in Nashville, Tennessee of the pediment sculptures of the Parthenon, the pinnacle of classical sculpture. In the early 1920s Kinney and her husband Leopold Scholz were hired to study and sculpt the pediment figures of the Parthenon for the full-scale replica of that ancient temple. This replica of the Parthenon remains in Centennial Park in Nashville today. Kinney displayed sculptural talent at a very early age. At the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897 she was awarded a prize for a bust of her father, Captain Daniel C. Kinney. At age 17, Kinney received her first professional commission. She was hired to create an eight-foot bronze statue of Jere Baxter, the organizer of the Tennessee Central Railroad. This statue has been moved from its original location, but still stands in Nashville in front of a public school named for Baxter. Just before this commission Kinney won a scholarship to study sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago in the academic years 1905 and 1906. While at the AIC, she studied under the famed American sculptor Lorado Taft. At times, Taft's influence can be seen in her work of larger-than-life heroes of the past. The bronzes created by Kinney are often monuments to the heroes of the Confederacy. Perhaps her father's military career provided connections to win war-themed commissions. Two wonderful examples of her war memorials stand very close to each other at Nashville's War Memorial Plaza. In 1909 she was commissioned to build a monument to the women of the Confederacy. She was the only woman out of 80 submitting artists. This commission promised not one monument to Confederate women, but ten, all from the same mold. The United Confederate Veterans proposed to erect a monument in each southern state to the women of the Confederacy remembering "Our Mothers, Our Wives, Our Daughters, Our Sisters" on the inscription. The location of only two of these statues is known today: Nashville and Jackson, Mississippi. Just across the War Memorial Plaza from Monument to the Women of the Confederacy in Tennessee (1926) stands Kinney's monumental Victory (1929). This nude classical warrior is an imposing 14 feet tall with Nike, goddess of victory, in his hand. The architecture of War Memorial mimics the portico of the Parthenon and Victory stands tall inside the colonnade. Kinney and her husband, Leopold Scholz, collaborated on this statue as well as others. Their dedication to public sculpture spans several decades. Leopold Scholz moved to the United States from Hungary in 1916. He married Belle Kinney in 1921 after they had studied and worked together for two years. Around the time of their marriage, the couple was hired to recreate the pediment sculptures of Nashville's Parthenon. Their plaster maquettes of the east and west pediment statues are on display in Nashville's Parthenon today. Kinney died at 9:30 PM on August 28, 1959.   « Less

Bertel Thorvaldsen's SELF-PORTRAIT ROYAL COPENHAGEN c.1850.Royal Copenhagen late 19thC copy of Bertel Thorvaldsen's The Artist Leaning Against the Godess of Hope (1839). The  More »

Bertel Thorvaldsen's SELF-PORTRAIT ROYAL COPENHAGEN c.1850.Royal Copenhagen late 19thC copy of Bertel Thorvaldsen's The Artist Leaning Against the Godess of Hope (1839). The petition to copy was made by RC in 1848 and is still in the company's archives. Actually this is the selfportrait of Bertel Thorvaldsen during his work on atypical in its idiom sculpture "The Goddess of Hope" (1817), inspired by sculpture of the Archaic period and executed during the years when, for Ludwig I, Thorvaldsen was reconstructing an Archaic group of figures from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.Condition: specimen is lacking a hammer in the artist's right hand and a chisel in his left one. otherwise great. Creation Year: ca. 1850-90 Size/measurements in CMs: H 35 Style: CLASSICISM Technique: BISQUE Inscription: 3 blue waves mark, impressed "ENERET. N" Creator: B.THORWALDSEN / Royal Copenhagen Manufacture Nationality: DANISH.   « Less

1st Century BC, Louvre, Paris. From the Museum Curators’ Collection----A direct cast of the museum original. This classic work of art evokes timeless beauty in the  More »

1st Century BC, Louvre, Paris. From the Museum Curators’ Collection----A direct cast of the museum original. This classic work of art evokes timeless beauty in the idyllic form of one of Rome’s great men. Cast directly from the original museum piece, this grand sculpture measures over a yard tall and is created in designer resin to capture all its nuances. A distinctive addition to your home or garden gallery, our exclusive work echoes the fine sculptures seen on prestigious European estates. Measures 14"Wx11-1/2"Dx37"H.   « Less

Marble sculpture by Giovanni Maria Benzoni. inscribed "G.M.BENZONI ROME 1878" 84cm tall.Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873) was a pupil of Giuseppe Fabris at the Academy of  More »

Marble sculpture by Giovanni Maria Benzoni. inscribed "G.M.BENZONI ROME 1878" 84cm tall.Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873) was a pupil of Giuseppe Fabris at the Academy of Saint Luc in Rome. Equally renowned for his classical subjects and religious work, Benzoni was a favoured sculptor of Pope Pius IX, and received commissions from many English and Russian aristocratic families. He also executed architectural sculptures for the Imperial Theatre, St Petersburg, exhibited at the Great Exhibitions and represented the Vatican at the Antwerp International Exhibition. Benzoni was profoundly influenced by Antonio Canova.   « Less

Michelangelo ’s Lorenzo de Medici Sculpture 19th,22" tall.

Michelangelo ’s Lorenzo de Medici Sculpture 19th,22" tall.   « Less

19 C bronze sculpture, THE BASE IS DAMAGED, need repair.

19 C bronze sculpture, THE BASE IS DAMAGED, need repair.   « Less

Hans Muller was born in Vienna Austria on January 10th 1873. He was a pupil of the sculptor Edmund Hellmmer at the Vienna Academe of Art. Although he is best known for his  More »

Hans Muller was born in Vienna Austria on January 10th 1873. He was a pupil of the sculptor Edmund Hellmmer at the Vienna Academe of Art. Although he is best known for his portraits and busts of the more famous of Viennese society, he modeled a few animal sculptures mostly of hunting dogs. Very little is known or has been written about this talented Austrian artist other than the many works he produced. Much of his work is on permanent display in the Simu Museum in Bucharest, Hungary.   « Less

John Rogers was born in Salem, Mass., and spent his early life as a clerk in New England, New York, and the Midwest. He began to model sculpture before the middle of the  More »

John Rogers was born in Salem, Mass., and spent his early life as a clerk in New England, New York, and the Midwest. He began to model sculpture before the middle of the century. In 1858 he went first to Paris and then to Rome for training. The ideals of contemporary neoclassicism, as practiced by both American and European sculptors in Italy, did not inspire him, however, and he turned his back upon his sculptural pursuits when he returned to Chicago. However, Rogers was persuaded to continue modeling small genre figures of a type he had done previously. Their success led him to open a studio in New York City in 1859. A combination of his sculptural ability and shrewd marketing practices quickly made that venture a success too. His work consisted of small, very detailed sculptures in plaster, built around a metal armature, and painted a neutral earth color. His grasp of anatomy and sharp observation of details of costumes and accessories were combined with an ability at compositional massing of figures and an appealing, sympathetic expressiveness. Some of his earliest works related to the Civil War, appealing to patriotism and to the popular sentiment against deprivation, the horrors of war, and slavery. The majority of Rogers's sculptures featured scenes of everyday life - in the schoolhouse, at the parsonage, in the home, more often rural or small town. Among his more ambitious works were scenes taken from literature, including three sculptures from Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, some from Goethe's Faust, and a number of Shakespearean interpretations; even these stressed anecdotal rather than dramatic qualities. There were a few small portrait sculptures, too, of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Henry Ward Beecher. As time went on, Rogers's compositions tended toward greater looseness, and he also depicted more scenes of action. In all, there were about 80 so-called Rogers Groups, of which about 80,000 plaster reproductions were made. Rogers developed a mail-order business, and his works were often purchased as wedding presents. They cost about $10 or $15 each. Rogers also executed a number of monumental sculptures, but these are far less significant than his plaster groups. They represent one phase of the reaction to the popular idealistic marbles, although in the 1850s some neoclassic sculptors were also producing genre works. Rogers had numerous imitators, but none achieved his renown.   « Less