After Antoine-Louis Barye

After ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (France, 1795 - 1875).
"Bear".
Patinated bronze.
With signature "Barye".
Measurements: 6 x 10 x 5 cm.

This lying bear follows closely the models of the famous Antoine-Louis Bayre, animal sculptor whose artistic career was marked by a deep passion for wildlife. His works were influenced by his meticulous observations of animals in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.

A key sculptor of French Romanticism, Barye began his training with his father, a goldsmith, and later expanded it with the masters François Joseph Bosio and Antoine-Jean Gros, at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he entered in 1818. Especially appreciated were his animalistic sculptures, largely initiators of the genre. He had his own foundry, collaborated with Viollet-le-Duc on a project commissioned by Napoleon III and was the teacher of Auguste Rodin. He presented his works at the Paris Salon, and created monuments such as the "Lion with Serpent" in the Tuileries Garden (1833), commissioned by the king. He is currently represented in the Louvre and Orsay Museums in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Albertina in Vienna, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., among other museums around the world.