François Léon Sicard

Overall the condition of the bronze is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age, including a few nicks and scratches. There is some dark spotting to the patina. There are a number of slightly visible original casting joints and plugs, including at the top of the proper left arm and to the proper right ankle.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This fine collection of bronzes charts the changes and developments in French and British sculpture that took place through the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It reflects the contemporary interest in classicism, orientalism and the representation of the nude, which preoccupied sculptors throughout the period.

One of the earliest models in the group, Barye's Junon, represents an academic approach to the classical nude, whose strength and commanding authority nonetheless shuns earlier Neoclassical modes of representation. The figure, conceived for the base of a candelabra reminds the viewer of the increasingly decorative role of statuettes in domestic environments in the 19^th century. It was partly the belief in the home as a shrine of the Aesthetic ideal that fuelled the 'cult of the statuette' and helped to develop a new form of sculpture in Britain later in the century. The so-called New Sculpture, represented here in the works of Leighton, Gilbert, Goscombe John and Pomeroy, shunned the sterile derivative British sculptures of the past. Its exponants, largely influenced by the work of Dalou (see lot. 170), adopted an approach which aimed to uncover the psychology of its subjects by freezing figures in a moment of introspection. In his Perseus Arming and Comedy and Tragedy, Gilbert, sought to represent the frailty of the human condition, whilst developing a more sensuous and androgynistic male nude, more in tune with the beliefs of the Aesthetic Movement. Fremiet's 1883 Charmeur de serpents betrays the parallel contemporary fascination with Africa and the Orient.

The latest sculptures in the group represent three diverging approaches in modern sculpture. Ricketts' nudes seek to develop the impressionistic techniques of Rodin, whilst Sicard's Oedipe embodies the most dramatic aspects of the belle époque and Bouval's Pandora looks forward to the Art Nouveau.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Calloway, L. Federle Orr and E. Whittaker, The Cult of Beauty. The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, London, 2011, pp. 242-245; P. Fusco and H. W. Janson, The Romantics to Rodin. French Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from North American Collections, Los Angeles, 1980, pp. 185-199, 272-280