Attributed to Louis Touaillon

Attributed to LOUIS TOUAILLON (Berlin, 1865–1939).
Untitled.
Bronze. Stone base.
Measurements: 161 cm (total height); 90 cm (sculpture).

Based on its formal and stylistic characteristics, the sculpture up for auction is attributed to Louis Touaillon, who was a key figure in the renewal of classical sculpture in the early 20th century, reviving the ideals of balance, harmony, and beauty from classical antiquity with a thoroughly modern sensibility. It most likely depicts Prometheus in chains, a subject that aligned with the sculptor’s heroic ideal and classicism.

Trained in Berlin and Rome, he developed a sculptural language of great formal purity, distanced from the most rigid academicism and decorative excess, which earned him widespread international recognition. His monumental figures of idealized nudes were widely exhibited and acquired by museums and public institutions, establishing him as one of the leading figures in German sculpture of his time and influencing the evolution of European monumental sculpture.