Antoine-Louis Barye (French, 1795-1875)
Taureau debout, seconde version (Standing bull, second version)
Rich milk chocolate patina and excellent detail.
Signed “Barye” and marked with “F. Barbedienne Fondeur” foundry.
Very good to excellent condition.
Measures: Height with marble plinth: 8 inches x 11.5 width x 5.5 Depth
Bronze: 7.2 x 10.6 x 4
AVANTIQUES is dedicated to providing an exclusive curated collection of Fine Arts, Paintings, Bronzes, Asian treasures, Art Glass and Antiques. Our inventory represents time-tested investment quality items with everlasting decorative beauty. We look forward to your business and appreciate any reasonable offers. All of our curated items are vetted and guaranteed authentic and as described. Avantiques only deals in original antiques and never reproductions. We stand behind our treasures with a full money back return if the items are not as described.
Antoine-Louis Barye, (born September 24, 1795, Paris, France—died June 25, 1875, Paris), prolific French sculptor, painter, and printmaker whose subject was primarily animals. He is known as the father of the modern Animalier school.
Scholarship in the late 20th century revised Barye’s year of birth from 1796 to 1795 after adjusting for the shift in year according to the French republican calendar. The son of a jeweler, he was apprenticed to an engraver of military equipment at about age 13. After serving in the army, he worked for a time in the jewelry trade. In about 1817 he began to sculpt while working in the studio of the sculptor François Bosio. He was also influenced by the Romantic paintings of Théodore Géricault. From 1823 to 1831 he worked with Jacques-Henri Fauconnier, a goldsmith.
Barye’s talent for rendering dynamic tension and exact anatomical detail is especially evident in his most famous bronzes, those of wild animals struggling with or devouring their prey.
Generally speaking, Barye was responsible for improving the status of animal sculpture, a category famous since antiquity, and for demonstrating its suitability as a modern expressive form. He also gained special fame as an artist who, regardless of subject matter, could meld grandeur and artistic refinement with realism in both public monuments and small-scale bronzes for the home at a wide range of prices that the middle class could afford.
Please also consider Avantique’s eclectic bronze collection including Barye, Barrias, Mene, Moigniez, Paillet, Paillard, Fratin, Picault, and Cain among others. We strive to collect the highest quality sculptures in exceptional condition.
