Louis Chalon

LOUIS CHALON (France, 1866 - 1940).
"Walkiria".
Bronze sculpture.
Signed.
Marble base.
Modernist wooden base.
Presents breakage in a brim of the hat and damage to the marble base.
Measurements: 114 x 50 x 80 cm (sculpture with marble base); 68 x 166,5 x 37 cm (wooden base).
Valkyrie sculpture by Louis Chalon. The Nordic horsewoman, mounted on a rearing horse, prepares to attack. She raises her lance with her right arm, opens her mouth in a warlike cry and her cloak is draped in an infinite number of folds by the wind. She is dressed for combat, with finely crafted armor covering her torso, leaving her legs bare. On her head she wears a winged helmet, a typical attribute of the valkyries. Valkyries, from Norse mythology, are one of the best known images of the female warrior, and are a symbol of the union of beauty and bellicosity. In modern art, Valkyries appear as beautiful maidens on winged horses, covered with helmets and armed with spears. However, some translations of the Norse "eddas" (compilations of myths) identify their mounts with terrible wolves on whose backs they fly over the battlefields, searching for the bodies of the chosen warriors. Chalon succeeds in boldly conveying the sensation of movement and struggle, as well as capturing every detail with the utmost realism.
A painter and sculptor born in Paris, Louis Chalon trained with Jules Lefèvre and Boulanger. He participated assiduously in the Salon des Artistes Français, being awarded honorable mention in 1885 and 1898 and third medal in 1891. He also took part in the Universal Exhibitions of Paris in 1889 and 1900, obtaining honorable mentions in both. He worked as an illustrator for the publications "La vie parisienne", "L'illustration" and "Figaro illustré", and illustrated novels by prominent writers such as Rabelais, Bobbaccio and Balzac. Especially famous for his work as a sculptor, he was also a goldsmith and designer of theater costumes. He entered sculpture through his experiments with wax figures in 1898, and since then he has devoted his life to this art. Many of his themes are of mythological origin, although treated from a symbolist and modernist point of view, with flower-women, nymphs, etc. Another of his great themes was related to Wagner, triumphant figures of valkyries or characters like Tanhauser. He worked mainly in bronze, making objects such as lamps, inkwells, ornamental vases and table clocks. He also made chryselephantine figures, combining bronze with carved ivory. Occasionally he also made furniture.