Albert Ernest Carrier Belleuse

ALBERT ENERST CARRIER BELLEUSE (France, 1824-1887).
"Three Graces".
Terracotta.
Signed.
Measurements: 73,5 x 29 x 29 cm.

In this sculptural group modeled in terracotta, material in which Belleuse excelled, the three Graces are represented with raised arms holding a vase over their heads. Dressed in classically-inspired tunics that are tightened at the waist and cascade down, exposing the chest of the central figure, who lowers one of her arms in an attempt to cover herself modestly, thus giving the composition a great narrative quality and embodying the sensuality of the Belle Époque evoked by Carrier-Belleuse's nudes. Another version of this model is preserved at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (inv. no. 1998.24), and a larger marble version was sold at Sotheby's Paris on April 20, 2012 as lot 209.

French sculptor and draughtsman trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, renowned for his neoclassical sculptures of great realism and delicacy. It is a balanced work where the representation of movement is an essential point of the work itself. In his first stage of training he was a disciple of the medalist David d'Angers, later moving to England, to return to France definitively in 1855. He made his debut at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1851, but did not become famous until 1861, when he presented his group "Salve Regina", a work that won him the third medal. In 1866 he obtained the first medal with his work "Angelica", and in 1867 he obtained the medal of honor of the Salon, in addition to being decorated with the Legion of Honor. In his sculpture workshop, he worked for a long time as the marble artist Auguste Rodin. In 1876 he was appointed director of artistic works at the National Porcelain Factory in Sèvres and in 1884 he published "L'application de la figure humaine à la decoration et à l'ornementation -industrielles", a collection of two hundred drawings in which he depicts anthropomorphic objects based on his ideas about the decorative arts. Some of his works can be found in the Prado Museum.