拍品專文
Claude Michel, popularly known as Clodion, was a typical example of the artistic tradition of the ancien régime in France. His uncle, Lambert Sigisbert Adam, was a sculptor of repute whose works graced the gardens of Versailles and the palace of Sanssouci, and Clodion's brothers all became sculptors as well.
It therefore seemed almost predestined that Clodion would have a career as a sculptor but his influence was to outstrip all the other members of his family. His early training was with his uncle, but after having won the Prix de Rome, he eventually left for Rome in 1762 and studied there for the next nine years. On his return to Paris, he set up a studio and rapidly established himself as one of the most sought after sculptors of his day.
Although Clodion was to have great success with large scale marbles and monumental architectural friezes, he is known today principally through his intimate terracottas depicting individual figures or groups of nymphs, satyrs and cherubs. They reveal the influence of the terracotta sketches by Bernini which Clodion saw while studying in Rome, yet they are fully a product of the French rococo in their subject matter and playful demeanor.
The present group was formerly part of the collection of Major-General Sir George Burns, and was part of the sale held at North Mymms Park in 1979. It was also included in the exhibition catalogue of Clodion's work in 1992, where it was related to a series of running male and female figures which seem to have been executed between the years 1780 and 1805 (Paris, op. cit., pp. 330-333). All of these figures display the same sense of forward movement, which allowed the artist to show off to full advantage his skill at rendering the delicately fluttering folds of drapery. The present terracotta has all the gracefulness and aesthetic appeal which have ensured that Clodion's work has remained popular down to the present day.
It therefore seemed almost predestined that Clodion would have a career as a sculptor but his influence was to outstrip all the other members of his family. His early training was with his uncle, but after having won the Prix de Rome, he eventually left for Rome in 1762 and studied there for the next nine years. On his return to Paris, he set up a studio and rapidly established himself as one of the most sought after sculptors of his day.
Although Clodion was to have great success with large scale marbles and monumental architectural friezes, he is known today principally through his intimate terracottas depicting individual figures or groups of nymphs, satyrs and cherubs. They reveal the influence of the terracotta sketches by Bernini which Clodion saw while studying in Rome, yet they are fully a product of the French rococo in their subject matter and playful demeanor.
The present group was formerly part of the collection of Major-General Sir George Burns, and was part of the sale held at North Mymms Park in 1979. It was also included in the exhibition catalogue of Clodion's work in 1992, where it was related to a series of running male and female figures which seem to have been executed between the years 1780 and 1805 (Paris, op. cit., pp. 330-333). All of these figures display the same sense of forward movement, which allowed the artist to show off to full advantage his skill at rendering the delicately fluttering folds of drapery. The present terracotta has all the gracefulness and aesthetic appeal which have ensured that Clodion's work has remained popular down to the present day.