French school of the early 20th century

French school of the early 20th century.
"The Conquest of the Air", ca. 1910.
Patinated calamine.
Signed "Rousseau".
Measurements: 72 x 67 x 42 cm.

The sculpture "The Conquest of the Air", made in France around 1910, refers to the enthusiasm and fascination aroused by the first advances in aviation and airships in the early twentieth century. The male figure, represented with a triumphant and theatrical attitude, symbolizes the human spirit dominating a new territory: the sky. The airship behind the character refers directly to the great aerostats and zeppelins that, in those years, were seen as emblems of technological progress and a new era of modernity.

The work fully embodies the optimism of the Belle Époque, when inventions such as the Wright brothers' airplane or the European air shows fed the idea that man was definitively conquering airspace. The figure's exalted gesture, with his arm raised upwards, reinforces this sense of victory, ambition and future.