Girardon’s Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV

Circa 1820

Oscar Nemon 1906 - 1985 Croatian Married Love Signed “Nemon” (on reverse) Bronze resin with green patina This rousing and sentimental sculpture, commis...

John Singer Sargent 1856-1925 American How They Met Themselves Bronze John Singer Sargent was among the most successful artists of his era. By the late 19th century, he was the m...

Ivor Roberts-Jones 1916-1996 | British Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Bronze This exceptional and iconic sculpture of Sir Winston Churchill is the original maquette for the renown...

After François Girardon 1628-1715 French Pluto Abducting Proserpine Bronze This High Baroque period composition captures the famed narrative of Pluto and Proserpine from Roman mythology. The late 17th-century patinated bronze, created after François Girardon's marble composition, captures the very moment that Pluto seizes Proserpine. The anguished goddess reaches skyward, attempting to escape the god’s grasp while Pluto’s stoic face betrays his knowledge that his ploy will succeed. This pivotal moment in the mythological tale has captured the imagination of many art historical greats, from Bernini to Rubens. François Girardon’s version of the climax demonstrates incredible finesse and artistry, modeled expertly in bronze in the present work by a later sculptor. The statue brings a twist of intertwined bodies into a dynamic frenzy, paralleling the tension of the legendary story. In ancient Roman mythology, Proserpine, the beautiful daughter of Ceres — known as Persephone in Greek mythology — was picking flowers in the fields when she was suddenly abducted by Pluto, the god of the underworld, and taken to his kingdom. Consumed with grief, her mother Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, scorches the earth, stopping the growth of grain and fruit. Jupiter attempts to intervene and secure Proserpine’s return to earth, negotiating a compromise with Pluto and the Fates that allows Proserpine to be released for part of the year before returning to Pluto’s underworld. Proserpine’s journey back and forth is an allegory for the changing seasons; when Prosperine is with her mother, the earth warms and provides bountiful harvests. Upon her annual return to the underworld, however, the earth once again becomes cold and barren. After returning to France after years of training in Rome, François Girardon quickly rose to become one of the greatest artists in France. He was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1657 and would become Chancellor of the Royal Academy in 1695. The artist was approached frequently for royal commissions and Girardon’s Pluto was originally commissioned by Louis XIV for the gardens at his Palace of Versailles. It was one of four monumental marble groups intended to decorate the corners of Charles Le Brun’s never completed garden at the chateau, the Parterre d’Eau. Each group of three figures symbolized one of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Pluto’s association with hell made him the apt...

Ivor Roberts-Jones 1916-1996 British Sir Winston Churchill Artist Proof Bronze with a green patina One of the greatest leaders of the modern world, Winston Churchill is among the...

Adriaen de Vries 1556-1626 Dutch Laocoön and His Sons Bronze A remarkable feat of artistry and skill, this bronze sculpture was created by famed Dutch artist Adriaen de Vries. Full of the swelling emotions and dramatic posing so quintessential to the period, the bronze is a masterclass in Baroque sculpture. The original Laocoön marble sculpture, after which this remarkable bronze was modeled, unquestionably influenced the lives and works of countless artists, authors, popes, kings and emperors since its re-discovery in 1506. Famously, Michelangelo declared the sculpture, created circa 35 BC, as the “greatest piece of art in the world.” Adriaen de Vries, an apprentice of the great sculptor Giambologna, undoubtedly sought to prove his skill and creative voice with his own depiction of this most famous scene. Known for his virtuosic casting technique, this rare and important sculpture embodies de Vries’ mastery. The story of Laocoön is one of the most famous in all of literature. As told by the poet Virgil, the Greeks, after an unsuccessful ten-year siege on the city of Troy, the Greeks craftily left a giant wooden horse outside the gates...

Artist Brad Rude was born in Montana and has lived in Walla Walla, Washington most of his life. His journeys through his grandfather's folk art studio left...

German sculptor Nando Kallweit produces figurative bronze sculptures and reliefs with aquiline and a graceful modern appeal. Kallweit is inspired by seemingly disparate cultures; the...

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, (1796-1875) Manchu Tartar Patinated Bronze; Signed BARYE on base 21 x 8 1/2 inches

Art Deco French bronze sculpture of panther and gazelle by Alexander Ouline portrays animals in action, a kind of abstract forest floor in bronze all mounted on a wooden base. Ouline...

Lucien Alliot French Art Deco Bronze The Gazelles 1930. The brown patina on a marble base signed on the bronze L Alliot and stamped bronze on the deer. This particular piece has exceptional rhythm where the two gazelles interplay in a movement depicting leaping over the hills or water—a very three-dimensional treatment showing the movement of the animals. Lucien Charles Eduoard Alliot (1877-1967), the sculptor, was born in 1877 Paris, France. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français, was a member and the gold medal in 1920, out of competition, and was a member of the sculpture jury from 1934 to 1939. Alliot was well known for his figurative sculptures, exhibited at the Salon de Paris for many years. He received a third-place award in 1907 (which included funds for travel expenses) and a first-place award l in 1920. After he declared himself out of the artistic competition, he became a jury member at the Salon evaluating sculptural works from 1934 to 1939. Alliot created several allegorical groups, La Paix in 1939, and several religious illustrations: Sacré Cœur in 1924, La Vierge Marie...

Silvered Bronze Art Deco Statue Pair featuring a woman reaching and grasping the antlers of a deer, a rare version of “Chasing the Hind” Designe...