The Hungarian born French sculptor Alexandre Kéléty was responsible for some of the most elegant examples of Art Deco sculpture, many of which were exhibited at the 1925 Paris E
xposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes and the 1937 Paris
Exposition universelle. The present model shows a stylised archer in a dynamic pose, his billowing drapes harmoniously echoing the undulating shape of the bow. It relates to the sculptor's other action group,
The Charioteer (Arwas,
op. cit., pp. 116-117). A cast of the present model illustrated by Arwas has a very similar square marble base with rounded corners, though in red Brescian marble (
op. cit., p. 115). Casts of the
Tireur à l'Arc are rare at auction. Another of the same dimensions, without the marble base, sold at Christie's New York on 12 June 2003 for $160,000.
RELATED LITERATURE
V. Arwas, Art Deco Sculpture, London, 1992, pp. 115-117