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Lot Essay
Celebrated for his realistic representations of animals, Edward Kemeys acknowledged his penchant for sculpting at a young age while employed by the Civil Engineering Corps and assisting with the construction of Central Park in New York. In the 1870s, Kemeys traveled to Paris where he further developed his skills while studying with well-known French artist and fellow animal sculptor, Alfred Barye. Inspired by his studies abroad, Kemeys returned to the United States and set out on hunting excursions to the West to observe his subjects firsthand.
"The densely muscled body of the Standing Stag (c. 1880s) is balanced on fragile legs, his head thrust forward, ears flaring and eyes wide with wary alertness. Beyond evoking a creature in its domain, this model typifies Kemeys' acute understanding of how an animal is put together. His mastery was gained through intense observations of animals in their habitat as well as the painstaking dissections Kemeys made during western hunting trips." (J. Conner, J. Rosenkranz, American Sculpture 1845-1945, New York, 2001, p. 12)
Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Kemeys placed his bronzes in realistic settings to further emphasize their natural habitat. Kemeys works can be seen in Central Park, New York and Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and are currently in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The artist's anatomical accuracy and intimate understanding of animal movement and behavior established Kemeys as America's foremost sculptor of wildlife of the 19th Century.
"The densely muscled body of the Standing Stag (c. 1880s) is balanced on fragile legs, his head thrust forward, ears flaring and eyes wide with wary alertness. Beyond evoking a creature in its domain, this model typifies Kemeys' acute understanding of how an animal is put together. His mastery was gained through intense observations of animals in their habitat as well as the painstaking dissections Kemeys made during western hunting trips." (J. Conner, J. Rosenkranz, American Sculpture 1845-1945, New York, 2001, p. 12)
Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Kemeys placed his bronzes in realistic settings to further emphasize their natural habitat. Kemeys works can be seen in Central Park, New York and Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and are currently in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The artist's anatomical accuracy and intimate understanding of animal movement and behavior established Kemeys as America's foremost sculptor of wildlife of the 19th Century.