Cast Bronze Sculpture Of A Bladesmith, Signed "Gaudez"; French Circa 1885.

Adrien Etienne Gaudez (French, 1845 to 1902) cast bronze handsome sculpture depicting a seated blacksmith forging a sword, circa 1885. 1

height: 21 in. 53 cm., width: 12.5 in. 32 cm., depth: 12.5 in. 32 cm.

From the estate of Former U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultz and his wife, socialite and philanthropist, Charlotte Mailliard Shultz; American, 20th century.

Adrien Etienne Gaudez’s sculptures are generally Art Nouveau bronze figures that vary in size from miniatures to large-scale busts. Born in 1845 in France, Gaudez studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris before his first exhibition in a Paris Salon in 1864. Adrien Etienne Gaudez’s fine art can be seen in full glory in the German town of Magdenburg. Having been a prisoner of war there, Gaudez created and erected a monument in the town in memory of the French soldiers who had died in the camp.
Born on February 2, 1845 in Lyon, France, the sculptor studied at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux-Arts with Francois Jouffroy as his tutor. Though his work primarily explored classical motifs, as his career progressed, Gaudez delved into the curvilinear forms and ornament characteristic of Art Nouveau. He died on January 23, 1902 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.