Bronze Group - Deer Family , Antoine-louis Barye (1795-1875)

Bronze group with brown patina , representing a family of deer by the sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye (1795-1875) .
This group is composed of the "Listening Deer" from 1838 , the "Reclining Doe" from 1840 , and the "Fawn" from "Reclining Deer" from 1840 .
This group is the second version, "Deer Family No. 2" which is the definitive version .
Bronze signed "BARYE" in hollow , on the oval naturalist terrace with profile , decorated with a tree stump .
Signature of the founder "F.BARBEDIENNE.Fondeur.Paris", on the back .
Old edition sculpture , period second half of the 19th century .
Perfect state of conservation and patina .

Dimensions : 22 cm x 25 cm x 13.5 cm

Antoine - Louis Barye (1795-1875) 

Famous for his animal sculptures , Antoine-Louis Barye is a silversmith's son , who is trained in metalwork with a military equipment manufacturer and Jacques - Henri Fauconnier.

In 1818 , he entered the Paris School of Fine Arts and apprenticed in the studio of sculptor François Joseph Bosio and painter Jean-Antoine Gros .
After several failures at theThe Grand Prix of Rome , Antoine-Louis Barye slammed the door of the Fine Arts in 1825 .
He then turned to animal sculpture which he would bring back up to date .
With his friend Delacroix , he goes regularly to the menagerie of the Natural History Museum to study and observe animals .

It was in 1831 that Barye made himself known to the general public by exhibiting " The Tiger Devouring a Gavial " (Louvre) at the Salon , a work staging a violent fight "of impressive virtuosity".
Two years later , he triumphed with "The Lion and the Snake" plaster , which was also successfully exhibited in its bronze version at the Salon of 1836 .
Preferring bronze to marble considered too cold , the artist multiplied statuettes and small groups animals,that he melts and chisels himself .

Barye died at the age of 80 , leaving behind an important production of drawings , watercolors and paintings as well as sculptures , pieces of goldsmith's work .
His works can be seen at the Louvre and Orsay Museums .