19th & 20th Century Sculpture
19th & 20th Century Sculpture
William Wetmore Story
Self-portrait Bust
Lot Closed
July 14, 11:31 AM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
William Wetmore Story
American
1819 - 1895
Self-portrait Bust
signed and dated: W.W. STORY / ROME 1887
white marble
68cm., 26¾in.
Thomas Waldo Story;
by direct family descent;
Sotheby's London, 25 May 2016, lot 38;
acquired at the above by the present owner
by direct family descent;
Sotheby's London, 25 May 2016, lot 38;
acquired at the above by the present owner
This superbly carved bust provides a powerful image of one of America's most celebrated sculptors, William Wetmore Story. It is at once a professional statement and a deeply personal object, both in its status as a self-portrait, and in its provenance, having remained in the collection of Story's descendants until recently.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Story came from a distinguished legal family. He was a man of immense versatility as a lawyer, in which he graduated in 1840, as an author of poetry, prose and drama, and as a critic of art in all its forms, all of which made him an eminent host and focus for the Anglo-American community in Rome. Story settled in the Eternal City in 1856. Among his most important ideal works are Sappho (1836) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Medea (1865) and Cleopatra (1858) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Although he was less prolific in the field of portraiture, Story's entry into the profession of sculpture was in fact provided by the commission to produce a memorial sculpture of his father, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, which was completed in 1855.
Story's self-portrait bust, of which another version is housed in the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, was commissioned by the sculptor's most significant patron and collector, Count János Pálffy, in 1886. The commission is documented in a letter to Story's brother-in-law James Eldredge, dated 20 November 1886, in which the sculptor writes: '...I am now modelling a bust of myself (!!!) for Count Palffy, before beginning my winter's work in the studio.' It is noteworthy that Story depicted himself in the artist's apparel, careful to project the image of professionalism at issue for an American and former lawyer who was largely self-taught in the art of sculpture. Story is also known to have shunned any appearance of Bohemianism, in keeping with his upper-class American status as the son of a prominent Supreme Court Justice, as well as his desire to move in the aristocratic British circles of his patrons.
The fact that Story executed more than one version of his portrait bust suggests that he considered it an important self-image, both to further his public persona, and as a memento for his family, in whose possession the present version remained for more than a century until its sale at Sotheby's in 2016.
RELATED LITERATURE
W. H. Gerdts, 'William Wetmore Story', American Art Journal, November 1972, pp. 16-33 and fig. 1
We are grateful to Dr. Kathy Lawrence, Associate Fellow, Yale University, for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Story came from a distinguished legal family. He was a man of immense versatility as a lawyer, in which he graduated in 1840, as an author of poetry, prose and drama, and as a critic of art in all its forms, all of which made him an eminent host and focus for the Anglo-American community in Rome. Story settled in the Eternal City in 1856. Among his most important ideal works are Sappho (1836) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Medea (1865) and Cleopatra (1858) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Although he was less prolific in the field of portraiture, Story's entry into the profession of sculpture was in fact provided by the commission to produce a memorial sculpture of his father, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, which was completed in 1855.
Story's self-portrait bust, of which another version is housed in the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, was commissioned by the sculptor's most significant patron and collector, Count János Pálffy, in 1886. The commission is documented in a letter to Story's brother-in-law James Eldredge, dated 20 November 1886, in which the sculptor writes: '...I am now modelling a bust of myself (!!!) for Count Palffy, before beginning my winter's work in the studio.' It is noteworthy that Story depicted himself in the artist's apparel, careful to project the image of professionalism at issue for an American and former lawyer who was largely self-taught in the art of sculpture. Story is also known to have shunned any appearance of Bohemianism, in keeping with his upper-class American status as the son of a prominent Supreme Court Justice, as well as his desire to move in the aristocratic British circles of his patrons.
The fact that Story executed more than one version of his portrait bust suggests that he considered it an important self-image, both to further his public persona, and as a memento for his family, in whose possession the present version remained for more than a century until its sale at Sotheby's in 2016.
RELATED LITERATURE
W. H. Gerdts, 'William Wetmore Story', American Art Journal, November 1972, pp. 16-33 and fig. 1
We are grateful to Dr. Kathy Lawrence, Associate Fellow, Yale University, for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.