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Lot 274
Description:
An Antique French Gilt Bronze Statuette of "Jeanne d'Arc à Cheval", after Emmanuel Frémiet (French, 1824-1910), original maquette 1872-73, cast signature "E. Fremiet" on top surface of self-base, height 29 in., length 15 in., width 7 1/2 in., on a variegated marble base.
- Notes: Note: In the wake of a papal appeal from the Bishops of Orléans, Frémiet conceived an over-life-size equestrian monument of Joan of Arc as an inspiring image of French heroism, patriotism, and national pride. He prepared a preliminary maquette between 1872 and 1873, now in the Musée d'Orsay. A site was selected in April 1873 in the Place des Pyramides where it was believed Joan had been wounded during her ill-fated attempt to drive the Burgundian-British faction from the Château du Louvre. Frémiet's monument was inaugurated on 20 February 1874, but was immediately engulfed in storms of protest from Republicans, suspecting its Royalist overtones. While Parisians soon came to love the evocative naturalism of Frémiet's splendid design, the sculptor himself resolved to remodel and to replace it. In response to a commission from the city of Nancy, he unveiled a second design in the Salon of 1889 which simplified the horse, while adding 9 inches to the rider's height. The revised conception was accepted and installed at Nancy (1890), as well as cast for Philadelphia (1890); a clandestine cast was made, and secretly held in readiness. In 1899 the construction of the Métro provided a pretext for removal of the original monument to the foundry, where it was melted down. On 16 May 1899 Frémiet's second version was reinstalled under the "camouflage" of new gilding. This version proved popular: it was cast at full size for Mirecourt, Lille, Castres, and St-Étienne in France, as well as for Melbourne (1906), Portland, Oregon (1924) and New Orleans (1958). This last version was a gift from the People of France to the city of New Orleans. Unfortunately, the city did not have the necessary funds to erect the sculpture. When French President Charles de Gaulle visited the city in 1960, and discovered the statue was in storage, a 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 was later gilded. During restructuring of the area in 1999 the statue was relocated to Decatur and St. Philip Sts. at the edge of the French Market. Meanwhile the first version of this admired monument is available for study only in reductions such as that offered here. References: Ted Gott, "An Iron Maiden for Melbourne: the History and Context of Emmanuel Frémiet's... Jeanne d'Arc," The La Trobe Journal, Fall 2008. Ruth Mirolli Butler, 19th C. French Sculpture: Monuments for the Middle Class (Louisville, 1971), pp. 175-7; Albert Boime, Hollow Icons: The Politics of Sculpture in 19th-C. France (Kent State, 1987), pp. 88-94; and Philip Ward-Jackson, "Frémiet, Emmanuel", Dictionary of Art (Grove, London, 1996), vol. 11, pp. 753-4.
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July 17, 2010 10:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US
Neal Auction Company
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