Description:

Enrique Alférez
Mexican/Louisiana, 1901-1999
"Kneeling Figure"
cast composite stone with bronze patina
unsigned, composite stone base.

Born in Mexico in 1901, Enrique Alferez's life spanned almost the entirety of the 20th century. Alferez settled in New Orleans in 1929, an eclectic locale with a thriving art scene, and he split his time between there and his family compound and studio in Morelia, Mexico. His numerous public works have had a lasting impact on the visual identity of New Orleans.
The sculpture offered here is a life-size form of a kneeling woman with upraised arms wringing out her hair. An inscription on a known preparatory sketch (not offered) indicates that the work was created in Morelia in July of 1971. The pose bears resemblance to the allegorical kneeling figure of the South wind in one of Alferez's defining works, the Fountain of the Four Winds, installed near the entrance to the New Orleans Lakefront Airport in 1938, thirty-three years prior. As is typical for Alferez, he utilized industrial materials such as cast concrete and stone aggregate and created his own techniques/patina to imitate a bronze finish. While that patina has aged over time, consistent with an outdoor placement, the surface does not lessen the impact of the gracefulness of the elegant figure.
Alferez' large-scale works are offered very rarely at auction. Cherished in the same family collection since its commission, this figure displays the artist's true mastery of the human form, defining him as a modernist who combined realism with classical influences and techniques to imbue an intense depth of meaning into his work.

  • Dimensions: 47 x 24 x 27 in. (119.4 x 61 x 68.6 cm.), Overall: 50 x 24 x 37 in. (127 x 61 x 94 cm.)
  • Medium: cast composite stone with bronze patina
  • Condition: Surface dirt; light scattered nicks and chips consistent with age and outdoor display; 2 1/4 in. x 3 in. loss (thinly chipped) on proper right side of base; significant (~50%) loss of bronze patina unevenly throughout; green staining/oxidation due to leaching of the bronze finish on figure, particularly on face and torso due to normal exposure to the elements; some abrasions and wear to cast stone with aggregate visible in some areas.

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January 24, 2025 11:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $5,000
$50,000 $99,999 $10,000
$100,000 + $20,000