Marcel André Bouraine

MARCEL ANDRÉ BOURAINE (France, 1886 - 1948).
"Faun and antelope".
Patinated bronze sculpture.
Signed on the base.
Measurements: 43 x 79 x 20 cm.

In this typical Art Deco sculpture Marcel André represents a reclining faun interacting with an antelope in a very balanced horizontal composition. It is a piece that represents with great fidelity what his artistic taste was. The faun appears semi-nude, with a muscular human torso and goat-like legs, reclining in a relaxed manner on a pedestal. His body forms a flowing diagonal line typical of Art Deco. In front of him, the antelope leans elegantly towards the fruit, with stylized neck and carefully modeled slender legs, conveying lightness and attention.

Marcel Bouraine trained with J.A.J. Falguiere, who had reintroduced and emphasized realism in nineteenth-century French sculpture. Captured in Germany during World War I and imprisoned in Switzerland, after the war he resumed his artistic activity and held an exhibition in 1922 in Paris, at the Salon des Tuileries. The following year he began his participation in the Salon d'Automne. He also exhibited frequently with the groups La Stele and L'Evolution. He made small format figures for several French firms, among them Le Verrier, Susse Freer and Arthur Goldscheider. Among his most important pieces are those made for the Paris International Exhibition of 1937. Occasionally he signed with the pseudonyms "Briand" and "Derenne". It is represented at the Art Institue of Chicago and the Corning Museum of Glass (New York), among others, as well as in various private collections.