Antoine-Louis Barye French, 1796 - 1875

Victor Franses Gallery, London, acquired 1999

M. Poletti and A. Richarme, Barye. Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Paris, 2000, fig. 33, pp. 109-110

Patina with some rubbing to high points, including centaur's stomach and legs, due to cleaning and wear. Light surface scratches.
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This model was conceived by Barye in 1849 and exhibited at the Paris Salon the following year but the model was not met with great acclaim when it was exhibited. However, in 1852 Charles Blanc, the government director for the Administration of the Fine Arts, commissioned a cast. As the master's second and final mythological work following Thésée combattant le Minotaure in 1843 (see prior lot). Barye's Thésée combattant le Centaure Biénor depicts a moment in the battle between the Lapiths of Thessaly and the Centaurs of Arcadia, when the hero Theseus saves Hippodaimia, daughter of the King of the Lapiths.  According to Poletti and Richarme, casts that are signed A. L. BARYE, such as the present bronze, were produced by Barye himself in the early 1850's. Examples can be found in the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. OA 5726) and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 10133.4).