After Claude Michel Clodion; 19th century

After CLAUDE MICHEL CLODION (Nancy, 1738 – Paris, 1814); 19th century.
“Satyrs and Nymphs.”
Patinated bronze.
Signed.
Measurements: 57 x 36 x 30 cm (x2).
The two sculptural groups that make up this set evoke the mythological and sensual world of Claude Michel, known as Clodion, one of the most representative figures of 18th-century French sculpture. Satyrs, nymphs, and cherubs (putti) intertwine in highly dynamic compositions, in which the modeling of the bodies, the richness of detail, and the treatment of the surfaces highlight the enduring influence of Rococo aesthetics in 19th-century decorative sculpture.
Classical mythology serves here as a repertoire of forms and gestures that allows the sculptor to explore movement, grace, and the interaction between the figures. The idealized anatomy, curly hair, plant motifs, and the sinuous arrangement of the bodies all contribute to creating a playful and evocative scene, in which the sensuality characteristic of the Bacchic world coexists with the delicacy typical of the French tradition. It is also worth noting that the combination of satyrs, nymphs, and cherubs (putti) recalls compositions such as *Two Nymphs and Baby Satyr*, housed at the Birmingham Museum of Art, and *Bacchus and a Nymph with a Child and Grapes*, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York—works that illustrate the sculptor’s predilection for Bacchic-inspired scenes.
Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was born in Nancy, but in 1755 he moved to Paris to study in the studio of his uncle, the sculptor Lambert Sigisbert Adam, with whom he remained for four years. After Adam’s death, he became a pupil of Jean Baptiste Pigalle, Madame de Pompadour’s favorite sculptor. His work soon began to gain recognition, and in 1759 he won the Grand Prix for sculpture from the Académie Royale. In 1761, he was awarded the first silver medal for studies from life, and a year later he received the Grand Prix from the Royal Academy, consisting of a stipend to further his training in Italy. In Rome, Clodion was highly productive between 1767 and 1771. Upon his return to Paris, he established his own studio, where he worked alongside his brothers, creating scenes of mythology, groups of dancers, nymphs, and bathers, in a style that straddled the line between Rococo and Neoclassicism. His works were in high demand, from Parisian salons to Catherine II of Russia. Works by Clodion are preserved at the Louvre (Paris), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the Frick Collection (New York), and the Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, Texas), among many others.