An error has occurred while processing this page. The site administrator has been notified. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Lot 378
Description:
A French Gilt Bronze Statuette of "Jeanne d'Arc à Cheval", after Emmanuel Frémiet (French, 1824-1910), original maquette 1872-73; master modelle for this size 1874-75; this cast signed "E. FREMIET" on top surface of self-base, and inscribed "F. Barbedienne. Fondeur" on side; this example probably cast c. 1875/1910 height 29 in., length 17 in., width 4 in., on a two-stage red marble base (total height 31 3/4 in.)
- Notes: Note: In the wake of a papal appeal in 1869 from the Bishops of Orléans and other French dioceses connected with "the Maid of Orléans" to demand her beatification (achieved only in 1909, with sanctification in 1920), followed by the immediately successive disasters of the Franco-Prussian War (July 1870-May 1871), the bloody riots of the Commune (March-May 1871), and a hated German occupation (1871-73), Frémiet conceived an over-life-size equestrian monument celebrating Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431) as an inspiring image of French heroism, patriotism, and national pride. Receiving an en orsement (without a public competition) from the Ministry of Fine Arts, the sculptor prepared a preliminary maquette between December 1872 and July 1873, now in the Musée d'Orsay. A site was selected in April 1873 in the small Place des Pyramides, at the intersection of Napoléon's Rue de Rivoli and a line from the Pont Royal to the church of St-Roch, crossing the great Élysée axis along the site of the Palais des Tuileries, destroyed in the Commune; it was believed that Joan had been wounded at that spot, on 8 September 1429, during her ill-fated attempt to drive the Burgundian-British faction from the Château du Louvre. Frémiet's monument was quietly inaugurated on 20 February 1874, but was immediately engulfed in storms of protest: from Republicans, suspecting its Royalist overtones. While Parisians, however, soon came to love the evocative naturalism of Frémiet's splendid design (now uniquely preserved in 2-1/2-foot reductions, such as the example offered here), the sculptor himself resolved to remodel it and-even more drastically-to replace it. In response to a commission from the city of Nancy, in Joan's native Lorraine, he unveiled a second design in the Salon of 1889 which substantially simplified and classicized the horse, while adding 9 inches to the rider's height; more strikingly, the reuse as a model of Frémiet's daughter Marie (who in 1873, at 17, had been perfect as the 17-year-old Maid) had somewhat lost its relevance, in 1889, as Marie was then aged 33 The revised conception was accepted and installed at Nancy (1890), as well as cast for Philadelphia (inaugurated 15 November 1890); while-unbeknownst even to Frémiet's wife-a clandestine cast was made in 1898, and secretly held in readiness. In April 1899 an allegation of subsidence caused by the construction of the Métro provided a pretext for Frémiet's removal of the original monument to the Barbedienne foundry, where 200 workers hurriedly melted it down. At 6 am on 16 May 1899 Frémiet's privately-funded second version was reinstalled on the original pedestal, under the gleaming "camouflage" of new gilding; it was not until 19 December 1903 that a published revelation obliged the sculptor to acknowledge the substitution. The design's second version proved durably popular: it was further cast at full size for Mirecourt, Lille, Castres, and St-Étienne in France, as well as for Melbourne (1906), for Portland, Oregon (1924) and most recently for New Orleans (cast 1958). This last version was a gift from the People of France to the city of New Orleans. Unfortunately, when it arrived the city did not have the necessary funds to erect the sculpture. It was not until French President Charles de Gaulle visited the city in 1960, and discovered the statue was in storage, that a united French/New Orleans fund-raising campaign was initiated. In 1972 the sculpture was erected at "Place de France" at the foot of Canal Street and in 1985 it was gilded. During the restructuring of the area in 1999, caused by the Harrah's Casino construction, the statue was relocated to Decatur and St. Philip Sts. at the edge of the French Market. Meanwhile the historic first version of this now universally admired monument (cast 1874, destroyed 1899) is available for study and delectation only in reductions such as that offered here, which are known to have been issued from c. 1875 by the Parisian art-foundry houses of Goupil (apparently mostly for unmarked examples) and Barbedienne (for the marked casts, such as this fine example). The Barbedienne master "modelles" for this Jeanne d'Arc as well as for all the other replicated bronzes by Frémiet were given in 1955 to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon. References: Preeminently, a brilliantly researched study by Ted Gott, "An Iron Maiden for Melbourne: the History and Context of Emmanuel Frémiet's ... Jeanne d'Arc," The La Trobe Journal, Fall 2008 (ISSN 1441-3760; www.thefreelibrary.com). Still also useful are Ruth Mirolli Butler, 19th C. French Sculpture: Monuments for the Middle Class (Louisville, 1971), pp. 175-7; Peter Fusco and H.W. Janson, The Romantics to Rodin (Los Angeles, 1980), pp. 272-274; Albert Boime, Hollow Icons: The Politics of Sculpture in 19th-C. France (Kent State, 1987), pp. 88-94; and Philip Ward-Jackson, "Frémiet, Emmanuel", The Dictionary of Art (Grove, London, 1996), vol. 11, pp. 753-4
Shipping Options
Accepted Forms of Payment:
October 11, 2008 10:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US
Neal Auction Company
You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 0% and any applicable taxes and shipping.