- 27
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens
- Jules Bastien-Lepage
- inscribed, dated and signed JULES BASTIEN-LEPAGE AETATIS XXXI · PARIS · MDCCCLXXX · AVGVSTVS ·/SAINT-GAVDENS · FECIT across the top
- cast iron with bronze patina
- 14 3/4 by 10 3/8 in.
- 37.4 by 26.2 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Boston
Condition
Some minor surface accretions visible.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Made by Magee Furnace Company of Chelsea, Massachusetts, the present work is one of several editions of a bas relief portrait of Jules Bastien-Lepage by Saint-Gaudens. Modeled in 1880, Jules Bastien-Lepage was completed soon after the artist's Joan of Arc was given by a patron to New York's The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saint-Gauden's recommendation. The sculptor remembered Bastien-Lepage as "short, bullet-headed, athletic, and in comparison with the majority of my friends, dandified in dress" and his relief sculpture reflects both the artist's neat appearance and pride in his profession with palette and brushes readily displayed (Homer Saint Gaudens, ed. The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, New York, 1913, vol. 1, p. 215). According to his son Homer, Saint-Gaudens believed Jules Bastien-Lepage to be "as near perfection" as any of the portrait medallions he completed (as quoted in Saint Gaudens, ed., p. 219).