Jean-Baptiste Clésinger

JEAN-BAPTISTE AUGUSTE CLÉSINGER (France, 1814 - 1883).
"Naked Huntress". Rome, 1860.
Sculpture in patinated bronze.
Signed by the author and with seal of Barbedienne foundry.
Measurements: 39 x 18 x 31 cm.

Sculpture in bronze, work of Jean-Baptiste Clésinger, inspired by the goddess of the hunt, Artemis or Diana, whom he represents however naked, a value opposed to the púdica condition of the Greco-Roman divinity.
Mainly a sculptor, although he also cultivated painting, Jean-Baptiste Clésinger, called Auguste, began his training with his father, the sculptor Georges-Philippe Clésinger, who taught at the School of Fine Arts in Bensaçon. He was also a disciple of Bertel Thorwaldsen, although his language is framed rather in romanticism, soon moving away from the neoclassical models of this master. Clésinger began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1843, debuting with a bust portrait of Viscount Jules de Valdahon. He regularly showed his works at this Salon until 1864, and in the 1847 edition he caused a scandal for the sensuality of his distinctly romantic work, "Woman Bitten by a Snake", for which he based himself on the study of a real model, Apollonie Sabatier, who was Clésinger's lover and also Baudelaire's. Only two years later, in 1849, he was named Knight of the French Legion of Honor, becoming an officer in 1864. He stood out as a portrait painter, representing prominent figures of the time such as the actress Rachel Félix or Théophile Gautier. Of special importance is his statue of Louise of Savoy in the series "Queens of France and illustrious women" of the Luxembourg Garden in Paris. Also noteworthy is his funerary monument for Chopin's tomb, made in 1850. In 1864 Clésinguer joined the Société Générale de Photosculpture de France, of which he would become artistic director three years later, and in fact he would be one of the main advocates of this new technique, which applied industrial progress to sculptural production. Clésinger's works are currently preserved in the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de la Vie Romantique and the Petit Palais in Paris, the Musée de la Picardie in Amiens and other public and private collections.