Émile Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929)

bronze

Musée Bourdelle, Paris
Private Collection, Venezuela
Sale: Christie's, New York, Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture (Part II), November 20, 1986, lot 357, illustrated in color

I. Jianou and M. Dufet, Bourdelle, Paris, 1978, p. 129, no. 598

The sculpture is in excellent condition. The figure displays a mottled dark brown and green patina that is in very good condition. The sculpture is clean and bears a fresh wax coating. The sculpture is structurally sound. No physical damage was evident on the surface. (This condition report has been provided courtesy of Wilson Conservation.)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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There is another cast of this work in the sculpture garden of the Museum of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

 

Simón Bolívar's heroic life, his unionist ideas and his successful military campaigns are the source of a Bolivarian myth that is still very much alive today. Bolívar is credited with the independence of current day Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. Born in 1783 to an aristocratic family in Caracas, he was sent to Spain to study in 1799. In Europe he was caught up in the liberal euphoria surrounding Napoleon and swore to liberate the Americas from Spanish rule.

 

While in Madrid he married María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro and brought her back to Caracas where she soon died tragically of yellow fever. Bolívar swore never to marry again, a promise he kept although he was later closely linked with Manuelita Saenz who also became a heroine of the Independence Movement.

 

In 1808 as the Spanish Empire began to crumble, the Counsel in Caracas declared independence from Spain. Spanish royalist forces defeated the Venezuelan troops under Francisco de Miranda in 1812. Bolívar now came to the forefront of the liberation movement and was declared El Libertador by the people of Merida. He fled to Jamaica in 1815, and aided by Haitian president Alexandre Petión, was able to return to the mainland in 1817.

 

The Battle of Boyacá in 1819 was a decisive victory for Bolívar and his troops. That same year Bolívar created, and was made president, of Gran Colombia which encompassed present day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador.

 

One of his most brilliant generals was Antonio José de Sucre, called El Gran Mariscal. The victor of the 1822 Battle of Pichincha, near Quito, Sucre joined Bolívar for the invasion of Peru where they jointly defeated the Spanish troops in 1823 at the Battle of Junín. Sucre was also the victor in the last battle against the Spaniards at Ayacucho that same year. In honor of El Libertador, Sucre created the Republic of Bolivia in 1825, in what was previously known as Alto Peru.

 

Following independence, squabbling amongst the different factions led to the dissolution of the Union. Bolívar was driven into exile and died in 1830 at Santa Marta on the coast of Colombia.