JEAN-BAPTISTE, CALLED AUGUSTE CLÉSINGER | BUST OF ARIADNE

Clésinger sale, Hôtel Drouot Paris, 6 April 1870, lot 27;

Emile de Girardin (1808-1881);

with Heim Gallery, London, 1978 (Forgotten French Art catalogue, Nov-Dec 1978, no. 41);

Christie's London, 3 April 1985, lot 242

S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l’école française, vol. 1, Paris, 1916, p. 402

The present bust, conceived in 1869, is a sensuous rendering of Ariadne. Auguste Clésinger was famous for his mythological, historical, and allegorical busts of which numerous were exhibited at the Salon.

Clésinger’s erotic female busts were considered shocking by his contemporaries, demonstrating his ability to render beautiful and sensuous women in a realistic manner.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Estignard, Clésinger: sa vie et ses oeuvres, Paris, 1900