Bust Of Young Girl, Pierre Félix Fix-masseau (1869-1937), Gilt Bronze, Art Nouveau Paris 1900

Bust of a young girl in gilded bronze. A young woman with loose hair appears to be looking thoughtfully at something. The sculpture is depicted in the spirit of Symbolism.

Art Nouveau/Symbolism, Paris, 1900-1903. Signature of the artist “Ex. Masseau” and the foundry mark “E.Colin & Cie Paris”.

Emile Colin & Cie - a Parisian art foundry active between 1875 and 1903, which exhibited its products at the Paris World's Fair of 1889, among others.

Height 45 cm (without base 39 cm), width 33 cm, depth 25 cm.

Good condition, slight rubbing and discoloration of the gilding.

Pierre Félix Masseau (March 17, 1869, Lyon - April 14, 1937, Paris), known by his artistic pseudonym Fix-Masseau. He studied sculpture in Dijon, then in Lyon in the class of Charles Dufraine, and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in that of Gabriel Jules Thomas. In 1897, he received the Prix de Paris, which allowed him to travel as an artist to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and to spend eight months in Florence, Italy. Fix-Masseau set up his studio in Paris, where he aroused the admiration of Rodin. The latter was unable to convince him to join his studio. The quality of his sculptures was noted in the salons of the Société des Beaux-Arts at the end of the 19th century. His early work was part of the Symbolist movement, a precursor to Art Nouveau, with frequent feminine motifs. Many of his works are now housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and one of his many monuments is the bust of Charles Baudelaire, erected in 1937 in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.

The sculpture was exhibited at: Société nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1901 Salon d'Automne, 1905

Published in: L'Art Décoratif, March 1900, ill. p. 232, 233 (patinated plaster) Art et Décoration, July 1901, ill. p. 12

Information on the sculptor and the foundry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Félix_Masseau
https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/ressources/artists-personalities-catalog/pierre-felix-fix-masseau-38210
https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/ressources/artists-personalities-catalog/e-colin-cie-8853

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