Louis-Ernest BARRIAS (1841-1905) - Lot 208

Louis-Ernest BARRIAS (1841-1905) Nature revealing itself to science Silver-plated bronze. Signed "E.Barrias" on the right-hand edge of the base. Bears the mark "Susse Fres Edts" on the left edge and the foundry's circular insert on the back of the base. H. 73 cm (Work partly depatinated). Related works : - Louis-Ernest Barrias, La Nature se dévoilant, 1899, statue in polychrome marble and onyx from Algeria, grey granite terrace, malachite scarab, lapis lazuli ribbon, H. 200 x W. 85 x D. 55 cm, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, inv. RF.1409 ; - Louis-Ernest Barrias, La Nature se dévoilant devant la science, bronze statuette with double patina on carved marble, lapis-lazuli inlay, H. 70 cm, Nice, Musée des beaux-arts Jules Chéret, inv. D 2008.1.1. When Ernest Barrias exhibited his monumental work in polychrome marble and Algerian onyx at the Salon, his career and reputation were already well established. Barrias entered the École des Beaux-arts at the age of 16, in 1857, and was awarded 1st Prix de Rome in 1861, studying under Cavalier and then Jouffroy. In 1878, he won his first medal of honor at the Salon. In 1884, he became a member of the Institut and, in 1894, director of the sculpture workshop at the Ecole des Beaux-arts. He was appointed Vice-President of the Académie des Beaux-arts in 1897. In 1889, the Faculty of Medicine in Bordeaux commissioned him to create a white marble sculpture of 'La Nature se dévoilant' (Nature Revealing Itself), as well as a companion work for his former master Cavelier, representing 'Science'. In 1895, a second version was commissioned for the grand staircase of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, and presented at the Salon of 1899 and the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Composed of a variety of colored materials - marble, onyx, malachite and lapis lazuli - the work was part of the innovative artistic vein of polychrome sculpture that had been developing for some fifty years. Following in the footsteps of Charles Cordier and Jean-Léon Gérôme, Barrias brilliantly embraced the art of assembling colored materials to create a vibrant decorative effect. Here, the allegorical figure is clothed in a drapery that leaves her bosom bare; her right arm is still half veiled, while her left arm is freed and sketches a slow, sensual movement of unveiling. As early as 1899, the Ministry of Public Instruction authorized the artist to produce the most luxurious reductions in various materials. These were immediately widely distributed. In fact, it was a bronze version of this work that the City of Paris decided to present as a gift to the visiting King of Portugal in 1905. Our copy was published by the prestigious Susse Frères publishing house, probably between 1899 and 1910.