Jean-Baptiste Belloc

JEAN-BAPTISTE BELLOC (France, 1863- 1919).
"Arabian knight with standard".
Patinated bronze.
Signed.
With foundry stamp.
Measurements: 146 × 90 × 30 cm.

Masterful bronze sculpture by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Belloc, an artist recognized for his technical skill and his predilection for orientalist-inspired themes, very much in vogue in Europe in the late nineteenth century. This work is a superb example of the dynamic and narrative sculpture characteristic of his production.

The composition captures the energetic moment in which an Arab rider, erect on his rearing horse, raises a banner fluttering in the wind. The artist achieves a masterful balance between the vigor of the movement and the precision of the detail.

The knight, wrapped in a wide turban and a tunic fluttering in the breeze, wears several layers of fabric whose folds are modeled with naturalism and expressiveness, giving a sense of rhythm and vitality to the scene. The horse, carefully trimmed, exhibits a tense and powerful musculature, which reinforces the drama of the moment.

Jean-Baptiste Belloc, born in Pamiers, was a French sculptor, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1890. After studying drawing in his native village, he obtained a scholarship from the commune and the department to continue his training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris; admitted by competition, in 1882, he entered the workshop of Jules Dumont, Jean-Marie Bonnassieux and Gabriel-Jules Thomas. Present at the Salon des Artistes Français since 1888, he obtained, in 1890, the first second grand prize in Rome for the work realized under the title of The Golden Age in French: L'Âge d'or: he was then a pupil of Antonin Mercié's workshop. From 1897, he made numerous trips to North Africa and became the official sculptor of the Ministry of the Colonies, he made numerous sculptures in Algeria and Tunisia. During the same period he worked on small-format statuettes, which were edited by Ferdinand Barbedienne. He died in Paris in 1919 and is buried in the cemetery of Perpignan; during his funeral, a public tribute was organized by the town of Perpignan and the Society of Friends of the Museum of the town. After the artist's death, Mrs. Belloc, a piano teacher and composer, donated several of her husband's works to the Perpignan museum.

Works (selection): Monument commemorating the war of 1870-1871 in Perpignan; dated 1895; Bronze statue "Les temps futurs" (future times): initially presented at the 1895 Salon (in plaster), this work is dated 1897, was installed in the Square des Platanes in Perpignan and was in front of the Monument commemorating the war of 1870-1871.