Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ARMIN BRAND ALLEN
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)

Léda et le cygne (Leda and the Swan)

Details
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Léda et le cygne (Leda and the Swan)
signed 'A. Carrier-Belleuse' (on the base), on a green marble plinth
marble
19 x 26 ¼ x 10 in. (48.2 x 66.7 x 25.4 cm.), overall
Executed circa 1870.
Provenance
With Shepherd Gallery, New York,1983.
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner.
Exhibited
The Elms, Newport, 1992-2019, on long-term loan.

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Laura Mathis
Laura Mathis

Lot Essay


Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was one of the most important and innovative sculptors of 19th century France. Dr. Anita Brookner called him a 'manipulator of styles', an epithet addressing Carrier-Belleuse's versatility and fearless experimentation in the fine and decorative arts. Carrier-Belleuse’s range is exemplified in the present composition: he borrows a brooding Leda from Michelangelo, gives her the face and figure Diana of Fontainebleau, and combines the whole with the Rococo fuelled flair of Clodion. A terracotta version of Leda and the Swan by Carrier-Belleuse is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession Number: 1980.123) and versions in bronze and plaster are recorded. Marble however is superior and more rare.

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