Charles Adrien Prosper d'Épinay (1836-1914) The... Lot 205

Charles Adrien Prosper d'Épinay (1836-1914) The Florentine Singer Bronze statuette with brown patina and gold highlights H. 30,5 cm Signed 'P d'Epinay' and bears the mention 'cire perdue' and the number 'N°2' at the back Bears the mentions of the founder 'G. Nisini Fuse Roma' on the edge of the base Provenance: family of the artist, by descent Estimate: 4000 / 6000 € Bibliography : -Patricia Roux-Foujols, Prosper d'Epinay , a Mauritian sculptor at the court of the Princes, published by L'Amicale de L'Ile Maurice, s.d., p.92-93. Born in Mauritius, Prosper d'Epinay, son of the politician Adrien d'Epinay, had a cosmopolitan and social career career in Paris, London and Rome. Trained in Paris with the portraitist and caricaturist Dantan Le Jeune from 1857 to 1860, Prosper d'Épinay quickly practiced portraiture, category in which he excelled. Then, like any artist in training at the time, he made a study trip to Italy study trip to Italy, moved to Rome in 1864 where he entered the studio of the sculptor Luigi Amici before opening his own (active until 1912). It is also all the ancient culture that he embraces and which which became an important source of inspiration for his work, although less documented and less known as his portraits of European nobility and the great celebrities of the time. This delicate bronze animated by a nervous and spontaneous modeling preserved in the wax print testifies to this appetence for classical culture. Seated, the young girl dressed in a Greek-style toga with her right hand, while her left hand holds a score, her head slightly tilted. slightly inclined. The half-opened mouth seems to let escape the bewitching sound of the young singer. The work is close to two works executed by the artist: his remarkable Sappho, Greek poetess, a masterpiece of the artist executed around 1895 and kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (marble, H. 166,1 cm, inv. O.L.97.IV) and a monumental Empire vase in white marble marble vase depicting Sapho seated in profile preserved in the Musée d'Orsay (H.135 cm, circa 1890, inv.ChM 142). Entitled "Florentine Singer", this small bronze shows the artist's admiration for the artistic production of the Florentine Renaissance. He visited Florence several times, notably in 1871, and, in 1875 with his friend Ernest Meissonier during the celebration of the 4th centenary of Michelangelo. His fascination for this city even made him regret not having settled there: "My enthusiasm for Florence. My enthusiasm for Florence. The pedestal of Benvenuto. I regret not having settled there. I regret not having settled there. I did not yet understand Greek art. I only understood it as it was understood then in Paris" (note of the artist, sd). It is difficult not to have there a vibrant homage to the Cantoria of Luca Della Robbia (Museo dell'opera del Duomo, Florence) or to the art of the bronze of Benvenuto Cellini. The casting is of remarkable quality. It was made in Rome, the city where Prosper d'Épinay runs his workshop his workshop and his business, by the founder Giovanni Nisini. The latter, who received a gold medal at the the Antwerp Exhibition in 1894 and at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris, is well known for his bronzes bronzes after the most illustrious models of ancient and Renaissance art. We would like to thank Mrs. Patricia Foujols, a specialist of Prosper d'Epinay, for all the information she has provided. for all the information she has been kind enough to provide us with.