Antoine-Louis Bayre

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (1796-1875)"
"Tatar warrior halting his horse", circa 1890-1900.
Bronze with very dark greenish brown patina.
Similar model reproduced in "The Barye Bronzes", Stuart Pivar, England, 1974, p. 59.
No caster's mark.
Antique casting.
Measurements: 33.8 x 34.5 x 14 cm.
This work is one of the most dynamic and technically complex compositions of the French sculptor, recognized for his mastery in the modeling of animalistic and combat scenes. This work, dated around the 1890s, stands out for its compositional dramatism, where it is represented with extraordinary realism. Barye made several versions of this sculpture, which can be found in different museums and private collections. The technical complexity and thematic exoticism made this work a benchmark of French sculptural orientalism and a piece celebrated by contemporary collectors and critics.

Antoine-Louis Barye (1796-1875) was a French sculptor famous for his animal sculptures. His habit of drawing in nature, inspired by the animals in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, gradually led him to devote himself to painting as well. From a very young age he worked with Fourier, a steel engraver who made dies for the metal parts of the uniforms of the Grand Army, where he learned all the trades related to the treatment of metal and became an unparalleled chiseler. In 1818 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he received classical training in the workshop of the sculptor François-Joseph Bosio and the painter Antoine-Jean Gros. In 1820 he won the second prize in Rome for sculpture for his Cain cursed by God. In 1831, Barye made himself known to the public by exhibiting at the Salon The Tiger Devouring a Gabial, a tormented and expressive work that immediately classified him as the first Romantic sculptor, Eugène Delacroix's alter ego in painting, and which provoked the admiration of the critics. From then on, he did not cease to produce masterpieces, often of small dimensions, which would enrich the collections of amateur cabinets on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1833, Barye exhibited at the Salon his Lion with a Serpent, a commission from the king for the Tuileries garden, an allegory of the monarchy crushing sedition, three years after the July Revolution.

Critics are enthusiastic, but not necessarily his colleagues. Breaking completely with the advocates of academicism then reigning at the Institute, Barye opened a foundry and disseminated his production himself, using the modern techniques of his time. Like the Romantic artists of his time, Barye appreciated exoticism and the Middle Ages. He preferred bronze to marble, which he considered too cold. Barye's style became softer after 1843. He endowed his human figures inspired by Greek models, such as the bronze group of Theseus and the centaur Bienor, with an energy and movement typical of the Romantic vision.

Barye's republican ideas did not prevent him from befriending Ferdinand Philippe d'Orleans, for whom he created a centerpiece, a masterpiece of the decorative arts of the time. He became one of the favorite sculptors of Napoleon III, under whose reign he created monumental works such as Peace, Strength, War and Order for the decoration of the new Louvre Palace and an equestrian statue of the emperor for the Louvre windows. Although his commercial activity and his art practice puzzled the members of the Institute, they eventually welcomed him into their midst in 1868, and the artist enjoyed prosperity and recognition during the last ten years of his life.