The Hon. Paul H. Buchanan, Jr. Collection. After CLAUDE-MICHEL CLODION (French, 1738-1814). Satyr Family Group (Male Sat...

Description

The Hon. Paul H. Buchanan, Jr. Collection

After CLAUDE-MICHEL CLODION (French, 1738-1814)
Satyr Family Group (Male Satyr with Infant Satyr and Putto on Ground)
Bronze
19 x 13 x 12-1/2 inches (48.3 x 33.0 x 31.8 cm)
Signed in casting: CLODION and on the back edge of bronze base: Villoz

Prior to collecting American painting, Paul Buchanan had collected French art. The bronze sculptures after Clodion and Falconet in the present sale reflect his lifelong affection for the decorative French style. He displayed these works prominently in the grand front hall of his home.

This is most probably an artist-authorized copy, produced by founder Jean Villoz after an original terracotta by Clodion circa 1771-1792. In 1755 Clodion went to Paris and entered the workshop of his uncle Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, and upon his uncle's death became a pupil of the noted J. B. Pigalle. In 1759 he won the grand prize for sculpture at the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, and in 1762 went to Rome. Catherine II tried to convince him to come to work for her court in St. Petersburg, but he returned to Paris in 1771 where he enjoyed enormous success and exhibited regularly at the Salon. Clodion's favorite medium was terracotta, and his preferred subjects were nymphs, satyrs, bacchantes and other sensual mythological figures he relished portraying with energetic movement. Together with his brothers, Claude-Michael Clodion also produced figurative decoration for candelabra, clocks and vases. Perhaps because he never had an interest in producing sculpture on a monumental scale, Clodion was never admitted to the Academie Royale. Nevertheless, after the Revolution had driven him to Nancy in 1792, where he remained until 1798, he was flexible enough to adapt himself to Neoclassical monumentality, as is demonstrated by his relief for the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel, representing the entry of the French into Munich. He died in Paris.

The counterpoint to this sculptural group (also after Clodion) featuring a female satyr is also offered in the present auction.



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