Léon Ernest Drivier (1878-1951) Embracing couple Montagutelli... Lot 39

Léon Ernest Drivier (1878-1951) Embracing couple Montagutelli cast between 1906/09 and 1923 Black patina bronze Signed "DRIVIER Bears the founder's stamp "MONTAGUTELLI PARIS CIRE PERDUE". H. 39 cm A student of Barrias at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Léon-Ernest Drivier began his career as a practitioner for Auguste Rodin. A falling-out between the two artists over his marble transposition of the master's Jour et la Nuit and their irreversible break-up enabled him to explore other avenues, notably those of the independents and then the "Bande à Schnegg", whose members advocated a liberation from official art and academic classicism. In 1923, Drivier even became one of the founders of the Salon des Indépendants. Alongside his elders Pompon, Bourdelle, Bernard and Despiau and his younger brothers Wlérick, Janniot, Osouf and Dejean, Drivier became one of the leaders of modern French sculpture. He received numerous private and public commissions, both decorative and monumental.