E. Laporte

E. LAPORTE (France, active at the beginning of the 20th century).
"Fencer".
Patinated bronze.
Signed.
Measurements: 52 x 21 x 22 cm.

In the early twentieth century sculptors represented fencers because fencing symbolized elegance, honor, discipline and social sophistication, especially in France, where it was a sport associated with the aristocracy and military officers. In addition, with the rise of the modern Olympic Games and Art Deco, artists sought athletic and dynamic figures to show movement, balance and stylized lines, so duelists and swordsmen became ideal subjects for decorative bronze sculptures of the time.

This sculpture, therefore, is an interesting and powerful example as it condenses the modern fascination with sport, which during the Art Deco era ceased to be understood solely as aristocratic entertainment and became a symbol of the essential values of modernity: energy, discipline, dynamism, health, competitiveness and physical beauty. France was one of the great epicenters of this phenomenon, and art immediately incorporated this new exaltation of the body and movement.