Marcel Début

MARCEL DÉBUT (France, 1865 - 1933).
"Dancing nymph", c. 1900.
Silver-plated bronze.
The harp is missing.
Signed.
Measurements: 108 x 43 x 30 cm.
A nymph or fairy of nature is the protagonist of this sculpture. The woman, of delicate and slender forms, stands in the center of the pedestal. The delicate floating and undulating forms of the sculpture allow us to link it to the Modernism or Art Nouveau movement, which had in nature and popular mythology, populated by fairies, elves and nymphs, two of its main sources of inspiration.
Marcel Début was one of the most prominent bronze sculptors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the peak of this discipline. Son of the sculptor Didier Début, Marcel trained with Henri Chapu at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, obtaining the Grand Prix to travel to Rome. He attended the Parisian Salons from 1883 until the beginning of the First World War. He worked mainly on the human figure, often with a realistic approach, although he also produced excellent animal sculptures. Marcel Début moved between romanticism, realism and impressionism, even producing works within Art Nouveau. His works were especially popular during Romanticism, although they already showed early Impressionist traits.