Mathurin Moreau

MATHURIN MOREAU (Dijon, 1822 - Paris, 1912).
"Le torrent".
Patinated bronze.
Signed.
On rotating base.
Measurements: 83 x 35 x 35 cm.

Allegorical sculpture, representing a fountain or spring: a bearded and naked man, except for the cloth that undulates, bends slightly while overturning a pitcher. The fluid and natural gesture of the body transmits dynamism and delicacy, evoking the idea of a torrent. The modeling, of great softness in the anatomy, responds to the elegant classicism that characterizes Mathurin Moreau, one of the most prolific French sculptors of the nineteenth century in allegorical and decorative themes.

Son of the painter Jean-Baptiste Moreau, and brother of the sculptors Auguste and Hippolyte, Mathurin Moreau (1822-1912) worked mainly in small-format bronze sculpture, although he also produced works in ceramics. His favorite subjects were always those of romantic inspiration: allegories, literary and mythological figures, nymphs, young and beautiful girls, "putti" at play, etc. His was an academic and realistic style, characterized by the quality of his finishes, by his realism and, above all, by the grace, charm and elegance of his models. He exhibited his works at the Paris Salon from 1848, finally winning the medal of honor in the 1897 edition. He combined his artistic career with politics, becoming mayor of the 19th arrondissement of Paris and naming a street after him in 1912. He is currently represented in the Luxembourg Museum, the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée des Arts et des Métales in Paris, among others, and has public monuments in the Père Lachaise cemetery in the French capital.