Lot 303
303
A French white marble bust entitled Le Rieur Napolitain
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A French white marble bust entitled Le Rieur Napolitain

JEAN-BAPTISTE CARPEAUX, CIRCA 1865

Details
A French white marble bust entitled Le Rieur Napolitain
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Circa 1865
The young fisher-boy wearing a cap and smiling mischievously, inscribed to the back JB. Carpeaux, on a stepped spreading socle
21 in. (53 cm.) high
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

In the late 1860s Carpeaux revised the head of the Jeune Pêcheur à la Coquille, the first of his figures to show his characteristic smile with each tooth individually formed, and created Le Rieur Napolitain.
An oil sketch of the head, now in the Musée du Louvre, reveals Carpeaux's attention to facial expression and portraiture, qualities which he then skilfully transferred to white marble, a material he greatly admired for its nobility and sensitivity to light.

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