Albert Carrier Belleuse

ALBERT CARRIER BELLEUSE (France, 1824-1887).
"Neapolitan dancer with mandolin".
Bronze.
Signed.
With unidentified founder's stamp.
Measurements: 99 cm.

The mastery in the execution of this Neapolitan dancer testifies the savoir faire of Albert Carrier Belleuse in the sculptural plastic. The graceful movements of the jovial musician are balanced and graceful despite the fact that at that precise moment he rests all his weight on one leg. The fine but precise treatment of the face and the bare torso, attentive to the anatomical qualities, are reflected in the delicate mandolin he holds in his left hand, perfectly detailed both in the strings and in the structure of the instrument.

French sculptor and draughtsman trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, renowned for his neoclassical sculptures of great realism and delicacy. In this case, the sculptor worked on a set showing a group of four "putti" playing with a goat. One of the cherubs sounds a tambourine while being pulled by the cloth by another of the children in an attitude of movement. It is a balanced work where the representation of movement is an essential point of the work itself.
In his first stage of training he was a disciple of the medalist David d'Angers, moving later to England, to return to France definitively in 1855. He made his debut at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1851, but did not become famous until 1861, when he presented his group "Salve Regina", a work that won him the third medal. In 1866 he obtained the first medal with his work "Angelica", and in 1867 he obtained the medal of honor of the Salon, besides being decorated with the Legion of Honor.
In his sculpture workshop, he worked for a long time as the marble artist Auguste Rodin. In 1876 he was appointed director of artistic works at the National Porcelain Factory in Sèvres and in 1884 he published "L'application de la figure humaine à la decoration et à l'ornementation -industrielles", a collection of two hundred drawings in which he depicts anthropomorphic objects based on his ideas about the decorative arts. Some of his works can be found in the Prado Museum.