Robert WLERICK (1882-1944) - Lot 203

Lot 203
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
Robert WLERICK (1882-1944) - Lot 203
Robert WLERICK (1882-1944) Bust of Jenny, 1943-44 Bronze proof, n°7/10. Sand cast by Lucien Thinot. Signed (on the back, lower right): R. Wlérick. Founder's signature and numbering (on the back): L.THINOT.fondeur.PARIS. 39 x 28 x 23 cm PROVENANCE: France, artist's studio; England, Bruton Gallery (acquired 1987); England, private collection; France, Green Swan Gallery; United States, private collection. BIBLIOGRAPHY: - Jacques Gestalder, Biographie de Robert Wlérick, for the Wlérick exhibition at the Petit-Palais, unpublished, no date, p. 53, repr. (plaster ?). - Jacques Baschet, Sculpteurs de ce temps, Nouvelles Éditions Françaises, 1946, p. 113, repr. (plaster). - Robert Wlérick, Actes du colloque de 1995, Éditions musées de Mont-de-Marsan, 1999, p. 69, repr. (plaster). EXHIBITIONS : - Robert Wlérick, 1882-1944, London, Bruton Gallery, 22 May-26 June 1976, Birmingham City Museums and Art Gallery, 1 July-8 August 1976, no. 9 repr. (bronze print no. 1/10, Valsuani lost-wax casting). - Robert Wlérick, Rétrospective présenté au Salon Métamorphoses 1978 de la société des Artistes Français, Le Grand Palais, Paris, 24 April-22 May 1978, p. 12, repr. - French Sculpture, London, Bruton Gallery, 1979, n°61 p. 90, repr. (bronze proof n°5/10, lost wax casting Valsuani). - Robert Wlérick (1882-1944), Paris, Musée Rodin, 31 March-28 June 1982; Mont-de-Marsan, Musée Despiau-Wlérick, 17 July-26 September 1982, Éditions Musée Rodin, 1982, n° 99, p. 90, repr. (bronze proof no. 4/10, Valsuani lost-wax casting). - Robert Wlérick (1882-1944), Mont-de-Marsan, Musée Despiau-Wlérick, 17 July-26 September 1991, p. 11, repr. (bronze print with golden patina). - Robert Wlérick, études, esquisses et dessins, Mont-de-Marsan, musée Despiau-Wlérick, 24 June-5 September 1994; Paris, musée Bourdelle, 1 February-14 May 1995; Poitiers, musée Sainte-Croix, 6 October-10 December 1995; Chambéry, musée des beaux-arts, 1 February-30 April 1996, Paris-Musées, 1994, no. 29 p. 67, repr. (bronze proof no. 4/10, lost-wax casting by Claude Valsuani). Buste de Jenny is the last portrait made by the artist (1982, cat. expo, p. 90). Alongside Recueillement, Jeune fille se coiffant and Jacqueline, Buste de Jenny places the sculptor at the top of his game. Wlérick made three half-size sketches for this bust. The first two show a straight head carriage. The third one, with a bent head, was used to arrive at the final bust, shown here. The model, Jenny, had already posed for Pomona, a monumental stone statue commissioned for the 1937 Universal Exhibition and placed at the foot of the East Staircase of the Palais de Chaillot (1982, cat. exp, p.65-66). While the former stares into the distance, the 1943 bust shows Jenny in an attitude more akin to introspection, tinged with melancholy. The half-closed eyes and slightly bowed head are reminiscent of the pose in La Scapigliata, an unfinished work by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Gallery in Parma. A plaster cast of the Buste de Jenny is in the collections of the Musée Despiau-Wlérick in Mont-de-Marsan. Buste de Jenny was published in 10 copies and 2 artist's proofs, proof n°3/10 belongs to the collections of the Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux.
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