Antoine-Louis Barye

Antoine-Louis Barye is considered the undisputed master of animalier sculpture, who made an exceptional oeuvre celebrated by art critics of his time. The renowned art critic Théophile Gautier praised Barye as 'Le Michel-Ange de la Ménagerie'. The Cheval Turc is generally regarded as the model which most strikingly exemplifies his unique sculptural vision.

As a talented draughtsman Barye produced thousands of drawings and the strong silhouettes of his compositions, particularly evident in the present model, derive from his draughtsman's sense of shape and profile which he expertly transposed into three dimensions.

Barye issued four different versions of the model, due to the success of the Cheval Turc: two with rectangular bases and with either front right or left leg raised, and two with oval bases (as with the present example), again with front right or left leg raised. The present version, Cheval Turc No. 2, was the first model edited.

RELATED LITERATURE

M. Poletti and A. Richarme, Barye: Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Paris, 2000, p. 267, no. A 129