Lot Essay
Fremiet first worked on the theme of the confrontation between man and animal in 1850 with the sculpture of Ours Blessé. The first version of the present subject, a gorilla abducting a woman, was presented to the Salon of 1859 but was refused by the jury, condemed by critics and rejected by the public. Moreover, the plaster was destroyed in Fremiet's atelier fire.
Twenty-eight years later the sculptor returned to the theme altering the African features of the abducted woman, adding elements of combat (the rock in the gorilla's hand and the spear in his back) as well as other changes to the position of the figures and the naturalistic ground. The plaster won the medal of honor in the Salon of 1887 and many commissions for the work were received. The change in attitude about the sculpture was due to a better understanding of the subject and was not due to these subtle alterations in the work. The belief that the ape had a sexual appetite for women and that these animals were caricatures of mankind with all their vices, made the violent and sensual tone of the work unpalatable for the bourgeoisie in 1859. By 1887, the public would have been accustomed to the idea of the monkey as an ancestor to man due to the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. This bronze was no longer perceived as a vulgar sensational statement but was interpreted as a Darwinian drama, depicting the struggle of man in nature and the relationship of the human race to the animal world.
Twenty-eight years later the sculptor returned to the theme altering the African features of the abducted woman, adding elements of combat (the rock in the gorilla's hand and the spear in his back) as well as other changes to the position of the figures and the naturalistic ground. The plaster won the medal of honor in the Salon of 1887 and many commissions for the work were received. The change in attitude about the sculpture was due to a better understanding of the subject and was not due to these subtle alterations in the work. The belief that the ape had a sexual appetite for women and that these animals were caricatures of mankind with all their vices, made the violent and sensual tone of the work unpalatable for the bourgeoisie in 1859. By 1887, the public would have been accustomed to the idea of the monkey as an ancestor to man due to the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. This bronze was no longer perceived as a vulgar sensational statement but was interpreted as a Darwinian drama, depicting the struggle of man in nature and the relationship of the human race to the animal world.