Panther Seizing a Stag, Antoine-Louise Barye, c. 1835-1840, 14 1/2 x 21 x 11 1/4 in, bronze sculpture, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Sebastian Rothwyn
Art 11
Professor John Coppola
May 14, 2011
Panther Seizing a Stag
Antoine-Louis Barye was born in Paris on September 24, 1796 and died at the age of 80 years old on June 25, 1875 back in his hometown. He was a French sculptor most famous for sculpting animals, my favorite subject matter.
Barye began his career as a goldsmith, like many sculptors of the Romantic Period. Goldsmithing was his father’s trade. He was apprenticed to the military equipment engraver, Fourier at age 13. He even worked for Napoleon’s goldsmith, Martin-Guillaume Biennais, learning every facet of metalwork from casting to engraving. Afterwards he studied under sculptor Francois-Joseph Bosio, for a year, then painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, and was later admitted to the École des Beaux Arts in 1818. While working for Fauconnier, the goldsmith, he discovered his partiality for animals from watching them in the Jardin des Plantes, making vigorous studies of them in pencil, and then modeling them in sculpture on a large or small scale.
After numerous successful sculptures he modeled the Panther Seizing a Stag, which embodied the “instinct over reason” found in animal combat, evoked by the unrestrained violence of the natural predator-prey relationship. This bronze is found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY in a hall devoted entirely to nineteenth century paintings and sculpture. There are several pieces by Barye but this piece struck me the most.
This sculpture is impressive to me from a personal fascination and from an artistic appreciation. One can feel the sheer force of the panther sinking its teeth into the neck of the stag just by looking at it. The muscles of the panther used to pull the stag to the ground, in its shoulders and torso are most pronounced. The posture of the panther is almost alive and moving. The stag also appears to be moving, falling, under the pressure exerted by the panther. One can feel its desperate attempt to resist and pull away, and in this act, the near futility of it.
Barye was made Professor of Drawings at the Museum of Natural History in 1854, and was elected to the Académie des beaux-arts in 1868. No new works were produced by Barye after 1869.
Antoine-Louis Barye lived through three republics, two empires and two revolutions and, the ultimate test of the nineteenth century for any French citizen: the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War. This life of violence and abandonment of reason parallels Barye’s work, which he used to reflect the instincts of the “animals” of his time.
He blended the sense of motion with the sense of impact to capture the most striking moments of violence from an illustrative point of view more so than a decorative one.
Barye spent five years at the Ecole, Barye and distinguished himself with honors in 1819, 1820 and 1823. Here he developed his passion for animal sculpture. He won an honorable mention at the Ecole for the engraved medallion of Milo of Croton Devoured by a Lion. Although most saw this as a classic subject of a Greek athlete, most of his detail could be found in the lion itself.
He was so fascinated by animals that he created little animal figurines while goldsmithing for Jacques Henri Fauconnie to help meet his expenses during the 1820s.
He studied zoology and natural history to better understand the animal kingdom. He read a lot of Comte de Lacépède, the natural scientist who headed the reptiles and fish section of the Jardin. Additionally, the works of Georges Cuvier, who helped establish paleontology and comparative anatomy as independent fields of study were also great sources of information and inspiration.
To explore form and function Barye attended anatomy classes taught by Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, the chairman of the zoology department at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle. These studies helped Barye understand the animals he chose for his subject matter very well.
Nature’s pattern of survival, the circle of life, and the violent instinct of the animal kingdom were the items Barye combined to produce several pieces including Panther Seizing a Stag. Critics did not take to his "animalier" work, seeing it as more decorative than illustrative, so when the Salon jury eventually rejected several of his pieces, he decided to pursue his career outside the Salon.
Barye established his own company, Barye & Cie, in partnership with Emile Martin, in 1845 to finance the casting of his work and provide a venue for sales and commissions. Out of necessity, Barye was one of the first independent artists to promote his work in the private sector. Although it was plagued with debt and he lost his casts to foreclosure, he was able to recover them ten years later.
He continued to focus on animal sculpture and eventually wealthy Americans began to develop art collections of whom Barye found greatly interested buyers.
In 1870, he moved to Cherbourg, in an attempt to escape the horrors of the Franco-Prussian War, which took its toll on a man in his seventies. The following year, at the end of the War, he moved back home and five years later, he died.
Art 11
Professor John Coppola
May 14, 2011
Panther Seizing a Stag
Antoine-Louis Barye was born in Paris on September 24, 1796 and died at the age of 80 years old on June 25, 1875 back in his hometown. He was a French sculptor most famous for sculpting animals, my favorite subject matter.
Barye began his career as a goldsmith, like many sculptors of the Romantic Period. Goldsmithing was his father’s trade. He was apprenticed to the military equipment engraver, Fourier at age 13. He even worked for Napoleon’s goldsmith, Martin-Guillaume Biennais, learning every facet of metalwork from casting to engraving. Afterwards he studied under sculptor Francois-Joseph Bosio, for a year, then painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, and was later admitted to the École des Beaux Arts in 1818. While working for Fauconnier, the goldsmith, he discovered his partiality for animals from watching them in the Jardin des Plantes, making vigorous studies of them in pencil, and then modeling them in sculpture on a large or small scale.
After numerous successful sculptures he modeled the Panther Seizing a Stag, which embodied the “instinct over reason” found in animal combat, evoked by the unrestrained violence of the natural predator-prey relationship. This bronze is found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY in a hall devoted entirely to nineteenth century paintings and sculpture. There are several pieces by Barye but this piece struck me the most.
This sculpture is impressive to me from a personal fascination and from an artistic appreciation. One can feel the sheer force of the panther sinking its teeth into the neck of the stag just by looking at it. The muscles of the panther used to pull the stag to the ground, in its shoulders and torso are most pronounced. The posture of the panther is almost alive and moving. The stag also appears to be moving, falling, under the pressure exerted by the panther. One can feel its desperate attempt to resist and pull away, and in this act, the near futility of it.
Barye was made Professor of Drawings at the Museum of Natural History in 1854, and was elected to the Académie des beaux-arts in 1868. No new works were produced by Barye after 1869.
Antoine-Louis Barye lived through three republics, two empires and two revolutions and, the ultimate test of the nineteenth century for any French citizen: the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War. This life of violence and abandonment of reason parallels Barye’s work, which he used to reflect the instincts of the “animals” of his time.
He blended the sense of motion with the sense of impact to capture the most striking moments of violence from an illustrative point of view more so than a decorative one.
Barye spent five years at the Ecole, Barye and distinguished himself with honors in 1819, 1820 and 1823. Here he developed his passion for animal sculpture. He won an honorable mention at the Ecole for the engraved medallion of Milo of Croton Devoured by a Lion. Although most saw this as a classic subject of a Greek athlete, most of his detail could be found in the lion itself.
He was so fascinated by animals that he created little animal figurines while goldsmithing for Jacques Henri Fauconnie to help meet his expenses during the 1820s.
He studied zoology and natural history to better understand the animal kingdom. He read a lot of Comte de Lacépède, the natural scientist who headed the reptiles and fish section of the Jardin. Additionally, the works of Georges Cuvier, who helped establish paleontology and comparative anatomy as independent fields of study were also great sources of information and inspiration.
To explore form and function Barye attended anatomy classes taught by Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, the chairman of the zoology department at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle. These studies helped Barye understand the animals he chose for his subject matter very well.
Nature’s pattern of survival, the circle of life, and the violent instinct of the animal kingdom were the items Barye combined to produce several pieces including Panther Seizing a Stag. Critics did not take to his "animalier" work, seeing it as more decorative than illustrative, so when the Salon jury eventually rejected several of his pieces, he decided to pursue his career outside the Salon.
Barye established his own company, Barye & Cie, in partnership with Emile Martin, in 1845 to finance the casting of his work and provide a venue for sales and commissions. Out of necessity, Barye was one of the first independent artists to promote his work in the private sector. Although it was plagued with debt and he lost his casts to foreclosure, he was able to recover them ten years later.
He continued to focus on animal sculpture and eventually wealthy Americans began to develop art collections of whom Barye found greatly interested buyers.
In 1870, he moved to Cherbourg, in an attempt to escape the horrors of the Franco-Prussian War, which took its toll on a man in his seventies. The following year, at the end of the War, he moved back home and five years later, he died.
Panther Seizing a Stage, Antoine-Louise Barye, c. 1835-1840, 14 1/2 x 21 x 11 1/4 in, bronze sculpture, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, NY
New York, NY
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