Lot 71
  • 71

Ernest Wijnants

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Ernest Wijnants
  • La Colorette (The Collar)
  • monogrammed: E.W.
  • wood

Provenance

with Galerie Mullendorf, Brussels, Belgium, 2006

Condition

Overall the condition of the wood is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The proper right hand is reattached and is slightly unstable. There is stable original splitting in the wood consistent with the material, including at the back of the head and to the sides of the base. The front and back of the base are composed in separately carved sections, with the back of the base comprising three sections; stable original joints are visible. There are a few other separately carved sections, including drapery at the proper left buttock. There is wear to the wood, in particular at the high points and to the edges of the base. There are a few small chips and abrasions to the drapery.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Born in Mechelen, a famous centre for furniture making, Wijnants began his career in this local industry. Furnished with this foundation in carving, he followed his ambition to become an independent artist by enrolling in the Mechelen Academy of Fine Art and later in the Brussels Academy where he studied under Charles Van der Stappen.  At the 1913 World Fair in Ghent Wijnants exhibited Echo, his first work to show a truly original style which combines something of the modernism of George Minne with a delicacy of line and concentration on the feminine beauty of his model.  This genre continued with the series of nudes he made for Frédéric Speth in which the range of his inspiration from classical Greek sculpture to European Gothic becomes ever more apparent.  Through the 1920s and 1930s Wijnants established himself as one of the prime exponents of Belgian sculpture, leading to teaching positions in Antwerp, and, in 1938, was awarded the State prize for Sculpture and the Plastic Arts.  The present sculpture, entitled La Colorette, dates to around 1930.  The woman’s elegant movement and exotic costume, combined with a sense of primitivism, reminiscent of African sculpture, characterise Wijnants’ varied sources. A bronze version of the present model was sold in these rooms on 12 June 2006 for £31,200.

The Museum Europeu d'Art Modern, Barcelona (MEAM)

The Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (European Museum of Modern Art) is one of Barcelona’s hidden gems, situated in an elegant 18th-century palace in the heart of the city’s old town, El Born. Founded for the promotion of 20th and 21st-century figurative sculpture and painting, the museum houses an outstanding and growing collection of contemporary art. Each year it hosts the Figurativas Painting and Sculpture Awards, which brings together representations of the human form by contemporary artists from across the globe.

The following lots are a carefully curated selection of highlights from the Museum’s collection of 19thand 20th-century sculpture. It begins with a series of elegant classicising and Romantic marbles, led by Émmanuel Hannaux’s magisterial Le poète et la sirène (lot 34). These works evidence the belle époque fascination with the idealised human form, combined with wistful and exotic subjects. Affortunato Gori’s sumptuous Oriental Dancer (lot 37) highlights the fin de siècle taste for Orientalist subjects, reflecting major literary works from the time, notably Oscar Wilde’s Salome (1906). Historicism is represented in the very rare and dramatic original terracotta Monument to Beethoven by Théodore Rivière (lot 48).

The divergent movement towards a modernist aesthetic is witnessed in George Minne’s beautifully carved Le petit blesse II (lot 59) which represents the Symbolist desire to depict inner emotions in plastic form. Several works within the sale were created by artists like Minne, who were heavily influenced or trained by Auguste Rodin. The most striking of these is Louis Dejean’s column of swirling and twisting bodies (lot 82), which recalls Rodin’s Gates of Hell. A more classicising modernist aesthetic is seen in Fritz Klimsch’s elegant rendering of Frühling (Spring) (lot 63). This is complemented by Raymond Delamarre’s strong Art Deco David (lot 55), and his totemic torso LaBolognaise (lot 70). However, perhaps the most beautiful of the Art Deco sculptures is the Nude Girl by Jaume Otero i Camps (lot 40), a Catalan artist with native resonances for MEAM. Charles Despiau’s Le Faune (lot 58), seen on the cover of the catalogue, displays a softer classicism in line with the work of Aristide Maillol. Portraiture is represented by François Pompon’s charming Bust of André Leproust, and Jan and Joël Martel’s extraordinary clean-cut image of Professor Henri Vignes.

Each of the works in the catalogue were exhibited in Una mica d’escultura, si us plau! L’escultura europea del segle XX at MEAM, a dedicated exhibition of the Museum’s collection of European 19thand 20th-century sculpture.