After Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
PROPERTY FROM THE WALTER PACH COLLECTION
After Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)

Satyre et nymphe

Details
After Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
Satyre et nymphe
inscribed with the foundry stamp 'Alexis Rudier. Fondeur. Paris' (on the reverse of the base)
bronze with a green and brown patina
11 x 13¾ x 6 in. (27.8 x 34.8 x 15.3 cm.)
Conceived in stone circa 1918; this bronze version cast at a later date
Literature
G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault: étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, vol. V, Le retour à Paris: synthèse d'expériences plastiques, Paris 1992, p. 20 (the stone version illustrated).

Lot Essay


As he approached all genres in painting, Gricault affected all forms of art, including sculpture. Satyr and Nymph of the Museum of Rouen is his only large work of a particularly hard stone. Peut-tre s'agit-il du petit groupe en pierre qui enchant Delacroix avant de lui arracher le soupir il faut tre un forcen pour en faire ? Perhaps is it the "small group of stone" that "delighted" by Delacroix to snatch the sigh "you must be a madman to make"? Il manifeste en tout cas de l'audace, tant du point de vue technique que par la fougue de l'inspiration. It shows at least daring, both technically and by the fire of inspiration.
Gricault a os ce que ne faisait jamais aucun sculpteur : sculpter en taille directe dans une pierre dure. Gricault dared that never did any sculptor carve in direct carving in stone. Le bloc porte des traces d'outil clair (ciseau, gradine) et des anomalies anatomiques dues la difficult du mtier (bras gauche de la nymphe atrophi, patte du satyre vide pour le passage de la jambe de la nymphe). The block shows evidence of clear tool (chisel, chisel) and anatomical abnormalities due to the difficulty in the art (left arm of the nymph atrophied leg of the satyr hollow for the passage of the leg of the nymph). Ces imperfections rvlent a contrario l'intrt que prsente la sculpture pour le peintre : explorer dans l'espace ce que la surface plane de la peinture lude. These imperfections show the contrary the interest in sculpture for the artist: exploring space that the flat surface of painting evades.
L'amour du satyre pour une nymphe est un thme mythologique souvent trait avec lgret. The love of a nymph to satyr is a mythological theme often treated lightly. Mais ici le satyre est un mle athltique et la femme, reinte par la prise, est plaque contre terre dans une position qui voque un viol. But here the satire is a male athletic woman, exhausted by the decision, is pressed against the ground in a position that evokes rape. Les deux corps, mis nu et sans visages, s'opposent autour d'un vide qui prend une valeur constructive, annonant les dveloppements de la sculpture contemporaine. The two bodies, naked and without faces, around an empty object that takes a value constructive, announcing the development of contemporary sculpture.
L'influence de Michel-Ange dans le sens du bloc, la beaut du torse mle, la pose et le canon de la femme et l'aspect non finito de l'uvre permet de dater la sculpture autour de 1818, en rapport avec des dessins de l'artiste. The influence of Michelangelo in the direction of the block, the beauty of the male torso, the pose and the canon of women and non finito aspect of the work of sculpture can be dated around 1818, in connection with drawings by the artist.

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