Figurative Works at the Chrysler Museum of Art: Sculpture and Ceramics

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Alexandre Charpentier (1856-1909) - Narcissus ....1896-97

Heinrich Imhof (1798-1869) Eros

Jacques Loysel (1879-1925) Female Nude Bending Over

Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) Trust in God

Peter Stephenson (1823-1860) The Wounded Indian .. 1848-50)

Prosper d'Epinay (1836-1914) Amor Forgiven

Thomas Crawford (1815-1857) Paris Presenting The Golden Apple to Venus ... 1837

Willian Henry Rinehart (1825-1874) Otis Angelo Mygatt ...1874

Willian Henry Rinehart (1825-1874) Leander

William Henry Rinehart (1825-1874) Female Nude

Figurative Works at the Chrysler Museum of Art: Bronzes and Metal Works

Today I ran across a valuable Museum Art Resource in the form of the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va. There are quite a number of figurative works in their online inventory and I culled through those I thought notable. The Museum has a long distinguished history since its founding in 1939 and sponsorship of its founder Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. who presented the bulk of his collection to the city of Norfolk before his death. Their inventory consists of over thirty thousand objects. All of these images posted are courtesy of the Museum for review purposes so please honor any copyright that may be applicable. I will post them in several posts since posting large numbers of illustrations with the editor provided by the Google Blogger can be a pain in the petoot. Here is the first section, other sections will appear above:
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Bronzes and Metal works:
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C. M. Mahiment ... Standing Nude Boy ...undated

Paul Manship (1885-1966) Reclining Female Nude ... 1921

Niccolo Roccatagliata (1593-1636) Male Nude with Grapes

Laurent Guiard (1723-1788) The Flight From Troy ....1766

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) Ugolino and His Sons ... ca. 1870

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) The Genius of the Dance ...recast after 1912

Janet Scudder (1869-1940) Young Diana .. 1911

Herman Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947) The Sun Vow ....1898-99 ...Bronze cast ca. 1925

Fauns with Cornucopias ...16th Cent.

FoundryF. Barbedienne, Paris.... Woman Piper with Dancing Goat...ca.1925

Anon...Dancing Faun With Symbols ...ca. 1900-10

Carl Wilhelm Emil Milles (1875-1955) Two Figures ... ca. 1925

Unsigned...Bronze Male Nude...ca. 1900

August Rodin (1840-1917) The Age of Bronze ...1876

Unknown Artist - 19th Century French School- Standing Semi-Nude Male

I just managed to pick up this nice 19th century (circa 1880) academic drawing of a semi-nude male on eBay France. From the description it comes from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux but does not appear to be signed. Still, a nicely executed drawing.
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Unknown Austrian Artist: Jugendstilbronze - Aus der Quelle trinkender Mann- Out of the Source - Man Drinking

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Caption: Drinking Man
Artist: Adolf Josef Pohl (1872-1938)
Medium: Cast Bronze
Dated: 1910

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Addendum: I have been looking through the reference books I have on Bronze's of the 19th Century trying to identify the artist of this nice bronze (below) and I found a potential artist: Adolf Josef Pohl (1872-1938). He was active during the appropriate time period. He sculpted a somewhat similar small bronze dated 1910 titled "Drinking Man" (see illustration above). There are stylistic similarities, especially how the figure becomes part of the landscape, that lead to to this conclusion. Pohl is a potential answer to this mystery. I will have to wait until the bronze arrives and take a closer look at it under the magnifying glass.
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Surprise.... The dealer accepted my low ball offer and the bronze will be on its way into my collection shortly. I will have to do some investigation and research and see if I can identify the artist. I may even remove it from the base and see it it is signed on the bottom. Who knows it may be signed. It always mystifies me when an artist fails to sign his or her work for posterity. Then again, that would put a lot of researchers out of work. I will re-photograph it when it arrives. I ordered an encyclopedia of European Bronzes from Amazon.com. Perhaps it will have information about this bronze.
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I keep running across these beautiful little desktop bronzes on various sites. When I first saw this quality little bronze online it just screamed Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) in those flowing lines and the subject matter itself. I love the way the figure interacts with the action and the way the musculature of the back interplays with the movement of the rest of composition. I don't know what it is about accomplished artistic craftsmanship that speaks to me when I see a bronze like this but it does. I may take a stab at obtaining it, stay tuned. I'll make the antiques dealer an offer and see if he salutes the flag.
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Caption: Aus de Quelle trinkender Mann - Out of the Source - Man Drinking

Artist: Unknown Austrian Artist

Medium: Cast Bronze, mounted on Marble base

Dated: undated, circa 1900-1910

Valentine Bender (1884-1947) Young Saint John The Baptist (Bronze - Nude Boy)

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This is just an interesting aside that was prompted by a Discovery Channel program I watched recently about the Lost Female Pharaoh of Egypt. I have mentioned the concept of "appropriation" previously wherein an artist "appropriates" some aspect of another artist's work and reinterprets that meaning into something new and his or her own. As I watched the examinations of the various royal mummies I was struck by what indeed denoted "royalty" in a mummy. Dr. Zahi Hawass made a statement that really hit home with me and I thought of this bronze and that Michelangelo's sculpture of David and the pose those figures have taken. According to Dr. Hawass the one thing that denoted "royalty" was the way the mummy was posed. The left arm was drawn up towards the shoulder and the right arm was extended straight down the side of the body. Only "royal" personages were posed like that in antiquity, just like the figure below. Has Valentine Bender posed Saint John in like manner to indicate royalty? Just a curious observation on that discovery.

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Unknown Canadian Artist - Ca. 1890-1920 Standing Nude Boy

This Art Nouveau academic nude of a standing nude boy originated from Toronto, Canada. The artiques dealer had scant information on its origin but insisted it came from a local estate. I was in Toronto to attend a seminar on 19th Century classical painting techniques at a local private Atelier and bought it. I am basing my time estimate on the details of the frame, which to my eye says Art Nouveau. I apologize for the misaligned photographs. The varnish on the surface was shiny and I had to get off to the side to get a decent photograph.
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Caption: Standing Nude Boy

Artist: Unknown (Canadian in Origin)

Medium: Oils on Canvas

Dated: Unsigned and undated (ca. 1890-1920)

F. Luis Mora (1874-1940) America's First Hispanic Master: Seated Nude Boy With Flute

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Book Review: F. Luis Mora ... America's First Hispanic Master, by Lynne Pauls Baron
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Cover Illustration: F. Luis Mora, Self-portrait, 1905

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Lynn Pauls Baron of Baron Art Estate Managers, LLC, Madison, Ct., has written the definitive book on the life and work of F. Luis Mora (1874-1940). If you are interested in the life, times, and work of this great artist, then I highly recommend the Baron book. She and her associates have done a wonderful job of researching this fine artist.

Francis Luis Mora was the son of one painter and sculptor, and the brother of another. He was a well known illustrator, muralist, and portraitist whose work reflects a blend of Spanish and modern-American influences. Mora was born in Uruguay in 1874. his father Domingo Mora, was a well known artist himself, who gave Mora his early influences and training. The family moved to the United States and Mora attended school in New Jersey, New York City, and Boston. He studied drawing with Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell at the Boston museum of Fine Arts. he later studied under H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Students League in New York City. He traveled to Europe to study the great paintings of the old masters. By age 18, Mora was doing illustrations for leading periodicals. In 1900 he received a commission for a mural in the public library of Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1904 he painted the Missouri State Building mural for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. He painted portraits of the greats of his day, including Andrew Carnegie and President Warren G. Harding, which hangs in the White House.

Mora worked in oils, watercolor, charcoal, and pastels. In addition, he produced etchings and sculpture. Like his mentors, Tarbell and Benson, he captured the flavor of leisure life. Mora taught at the Art Students League, the Grand Central School of Arts, and the New York School of Art, New York, N.Y.

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Here are a few examples of the many beautiful illustrations in the Baron book:

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F. Luis Mora - American Gladiators... 1905

F. Luis Mora ... Head Lock .. 1907

Domingo Mora - An Interesting Book....(Luis Napping) 1880

Domingo Mora .... Catching flies (Jo Napping) 1880

F. Luis Mora ... Jo Mora, ca. 1911

F. Luis Mora... Female Nude ... 1892

Book Title: F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master (1874-1940)

Author: Lynne Pauls Baron

Publisher: Falk Art Reference, Madison, Ct (2008)

ISBN: 10 0-932087-62-0

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This academic drawing of a seated nude boy with flute came into my collection several years ago directly from Lynne Pauls Baron's Gallery in New England. It dates from the early years of his career and is most probably an academic study from his student days.

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Caption: Seated Nude Boy With Flute

Artist: F. Luis Mora

Medium: Charcoal on paper

Dated: July 1890

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Here are a few examples of Luis Mora's Academic works:

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