Joseph H. Hirshhorn: Collector for a Nation, Part II

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 43. Four Portrait Medallions of French writers including Benjamin Constant, François Auguste René de Chateaubriand, Armand Carrel, and Philippe Buonarroti.

Sold by the Order of the Trustees of The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to Benefit its Acquisition Program

Pierre-Jean David d'Angers

Four Portrait Medallions of French writers including Benjamin Constant, François Auguste René de Chateaubriand, Armand Carrel, and Philippe Buonarroti

No Reserves

Lot Closed

April 6, 02:43 PM GMT

Estimate

800 - 1,200 USD

Lot Details

Description

Sold by the Order of the Trustees of The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to Benefit its Acquisition Program

Pierre-Jean David d'Angers

1788 - 1856

Four Portrait Medallions of French writers including Benjamin Constant, François Auguste René de Chateaubriand, Armand Carrel, and Philippe Buonarroti

one signed and dated David 1830 and inscribed Benjamin Constant

one signed and dated David 1830 and inscribed Chateaubriand

one signed and dated David 1832 and inscribed Armand Carel and stamped with foundry mark Eck et Durand

one signed P.J. David and inscribed Filippo Buonarotti

bronze with dark brown patina

diameters: from 5 2/5 to 6 ¼ inches (13.7 to 15.9 cm)

For Carrel and Buonarrotti Medallions:
Galerie Fischer-Kiener, Paris
Acquired by the present owner in 1980

For Constant and Chateaubriand Medallions:
Victor Hugo, Paris (sold: Hugo Household Estate, Paris, June 8, 1852)
Private collection, Paris, 1976
Jacques Fisher, Paris
Shepherd Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner in 1976

For Constant and Cheateaubriand Medallions:
Sidney Lawrence, “Three Hirshhorn Acquisitions Reveal Unusual Histories” The Smithsonian Torch, no. 77-5, May 1977
H.W. Janson and Peter Fusco eds., The Romantics to Rodin: French Nineteenth Century Sculpture from North American Collections, Los Angeles, California, 1980, pp. 214-217, fig. 95, illustrated

For Buonarrotti Medallion:
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Museum of Art, Sculptures from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, August 1984 - August 1985
Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Relief Sculpture: Selections from the Museum's Collection, January - April 1986

For Constant and Chateaubriand Medallions:
Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Acquisitions: 1974-1977, March - July 1977
Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Art; Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts; Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Romantics to Rodin: French Nineteenth Century Sculpture from North American Collections, February 1980 - May 1981