Isidore Bonheur

ISIDORE BONHEUR (Bordeaux, 1827-1901).
"Bull.
Patinated bronze
Marble base.
Signed on the lower right-hand side.
Size: 34 x 53 x 18 cm (sculpture); 3 x 57 x 15 cm (pedestal).
There is no doubt that Isidore Bonheur was a keen observer of animal nature. His bulls were often captured in movement or adopting a characteristic gesture which, as in this case, contains the potential for an emphatic impulse, a restrained violence.
A French sculptor, Isidore-Jules Bonheur was born into a family of artists, the brother of the painter Rosa Bonheur. The third son of Raymond Bonheur, Isidore learned his first artistic apprenticeship from his father and his sister Rosa. In 1849, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He initially specialised in painting and exhibited at the 1848 Salon. Later he turned to sculpture, devoting himself to the representation of naturalistic models, especially small sculptural groups with animals. Many of his bronzes were edited by Hippolyte Peyrol. The models cast by Peyrol are exceptionally well sculpted, suggesting a strong working relationship between caster and sculptor. He achieved success with his bulls and his sculptures of horses, which are generally depicted as relaxed rather than tense, and which are among his most famous works. He won numerous Salon medals and a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris (1889).