S otheby’s is delighted to present a diverse and exciting selection of marbles, bronzes and terracottas from Romanticism to early Modernism in this July’s sale of 19th & 20th Century Sculpture. The sale presents a particularly rich selection of terracotta sculpture, as well as marbles and bronzes, by the great French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. Further highlights include a beautiful life-size marble nude of a Young Girl by Gabriel-Auguste-Emmanuel Faraill, alongside significant works by sculptors such as Antoine-Louis Barye and Alfred Gilbert. We invite you to explore a selection of highlights below.
This July’s auction includes a wonderful group of terracotta busts and figures by one of the great sculptors of 19th-century France, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, who was Rodin’s teacher. The group comes from two collections, and is led by a superbly modelled terracotta Bust of a Girl (lot 1) which exhibits the freshness and delicacy seen in the master’s best works. As well as terracotta sculpture, this July’s sale is led by a beautiful cast of Carrier-Belleuse’s iconic L’Enlèvement d’Hippodamie, which he conceived in collaboration with Rodin.
The official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the Salon de Paris was considered the greatest annual art event in Europe during the 19th century. This sale includes two magnificent marble sculptures which featured at the Salon in the 1880s; La Fortune by Gustave Deloye (lot 14), presented in 1882, and Jeune Fille by Gabriel-Auguste-Emmanuel Faraill (Lot 45), which earned the sculptor a third-class medal in 1886. The sale also presents a powerful plaster portrait of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (Lot 29), shown at the Salon in 1876, as well as works by the great Animalier sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye, who regularly exhibited at the Salon from 1824.
