- 19
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French, 1827-1875
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Description
- Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
- Figaro
- signed and dated: JBt. Carpeaux. 1874. with the PROPRIETE CARPEAUX imperial eagle and ATELIER DEPOT cachets and stamped L115
- terracotta
Catalogue Note
Carpeaux modelled the Figaro in the last years of his life, inspired by the archetypal French subject who was the theme of a sculptural competition for which he acted as one of the judges. Excluded from officially taking part, the mature Carpeaux's vivid imagination nevertheless created a model infinitely more memorable than the competition winners themselves. Poletti and Richarme list two examples dated 1875 and note that this model is amongst Carpeaux's rarest works, with few produced either by his atelier or by his family.
RELATED LITERATURE
Poletti & Richarme (2003), pp.84-85, no. SE7-8