Girardon’s Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV

Circa 1820

Ivor Roberts-Jones 1916-1996 British Sir Winston Churchill Artist Proof Bronze with a green patina One of the greatest leaders of the modern world, Winston Churchill is among the...

Adriaen de Vries 1556-1626 Dutch Laocoön and His Sons Bronze A remarkable feat of artistry and skill, this bronze sculpture was created by famed Dutch artist Adriaen de Vries. Full of the swelling emotions and dramatic posing so quintessential to the period, the bronze is a masterclass in Baroque sculpture. The original Laocoön marble sculpture, after which this remarkable bronze was modeled, unquestionably influenced the lives and works of countless artists, authors, popes, kings and emperors since its re-discovery in 1506. Famously, Michelangelo declared the sculpture, created circa 35 BC, as the “greatest piece of art in the world.” Adriaen de Vries, an apprentice of the great sculptor Giambologna, undoubtedly sought to prove his skill and creative voice with his own depiction of this most famous scene. Known for his virtuosic casting technique, this rare and important sculpture embodies de Vries’ mastery. The story of Laocoön is one of the most famous in all of literature. As told by the poet Virgil, the Greeks, after an unsuccessful ten-year siege on the city of Troy, the Greeks craftily left a giant wooden horse outside the gates...

This highly evocative bronze by Vincenzo Vela captures the deposed Emperor Napoléon on his deathbed, holding a map of Europe and lost in thought about what might have been. Remarkable among most portrayals of the exiled leader, this highly detailed sculpture depicts Napoléon at his most vulnerable. Nonetheless, Vela perfectly captures his still-heroic bearing, which imparts to this work a monumental quality and quiet dignity. The mate to this figure is the colossal marble at the Musée du Château de Malmaison, which was shown at the Paris Salon of 1867. The founder of the verismo movement in Italy, Vela was one of the great exponents of realism in sculpture. Born in Ligornetto, Switzerland in 1820, he studied under celebrated sculptor, Benedetto Cacciatori. He was also influenced both by the work of Tuscan sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, who seamlessly combined neoclassicism with naturalism and the romantic painting of Francesco Hayez...

John Singer Sargent 1856-1925 American How They Met Themselves Bronze John Singer Sargent was among the most successful artists of his era. By the late 19th century, he was the m...

Infused with a crisp modernity and subtle sensuality, this bronze sculpture by Cuban-born artist Agustin Cárdenas is an exceptional example of late-2...

After François Girardon 1628-1715 French Pluto Abducting Proserpine Bronze This High Baroque period composition captures the famed narrative of Pluto and Proserpine from Roman mythology. The late 17th-century patinated bronze, created after François Girardon's marble composition, captures the very moment that Pluto seizes Proserpine. The anguished goddess reaches skyward, attempting to escape the god’s grasp while Pluto’s stoic face betrays his knowledge that his ploy will succeed. This pivotal moment in the mythological tale has captured the imagination of many art historical greats, from Bernini to Rubens. François Girardon’s version of the climax demonstrates incredible finesse and artistry, modeled expertly in bronze in the present work by a later sculptor. The statue brings a twist of intertwined bodies into a dynamic frenzy, paralleling the tension of the legendary story. In ancient Roman mythology, Proserpine, the beautiful daughter of Ceres — known as Persephone in Greek mythology — was picking flowers in the fields when she was suddenly abducted by Pluto, the god of the underworld, and taken to his kingdom. Consumed with grief, her mother Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, scorches the earth, stopping the growth of grain and fruit. Jupiter attempts to intervene and secure Proserpine’s return to earth, negotiating a compromise with Pluto and the Fates that allows Proserpine to be released for part of the year before returning to Pluto’s underworld. Proserpine’s journey back and forth is an allegory for the changing seasons; when Prosperine is with her mother, the earth warms and provides bountiful harvests. Upon her annual return to the underworld, however, the earth once again becomes cold and barren. After returning to France after years of training in Rome, François Girardon quickly rose to become one of the greatest artists in France. He was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1657 and would become Chancellor of the Royal Academy in 1695. The artist was approached frequently for royal commissions and Girardon’s Pluto was originally commissioned by Louis XIV for the gardens at his Palace of Versailles. It was one of four monumental marble groups intended to decorate the corners of Charles Le Brun’s never completed garden at the chateau, the Parterre d’Eau. Each group of three figures symbolized one of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Pluto’s association with hell made him the apt...

Artist Brad Rude was born in Montana and has lived in Walla Walla, Washington most of his life. His journeys through his grandfather's folk art studio left...

'Goose' is a stunning sculpture full of character. As a gamekeeper, Richard Smith understands and loves the animal he sculpts - he lives and breathes nature! Richard Smith has gained an international reputation for his works of art, he has exhibited at prestigious galleries such as the Tryon Gallery and W. H. Pattersons in London, The Sportsman’s Edge Gallery in New York, The Call of Africa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the Everard Reed Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa. Richard has exhibited his paintings at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in the USA, the Natural History Museum and Tring Museum in Britain. He has sold at all the major auctions houses in London, such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Phillips. In 2013 Callaghans of Shrewsbury...

This artwork is equipped with the special box which was made for the exhibition An International Touring Exhibition of the Art of Wu Weishan·Special Exhibition. Exhibition : Sculpti...

Garibaldi Riding A Horse is an original bronze sculpture realized by Carlo Rivalta. Signed by the artist. Beautiful and important sculpture representing the most famous Italian Hero...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 81 Inches Tall Medium: Bronze Sculpture Dated 2006 "The Spirit Of Texas" Bucking Bronco & Rider They are very scarce. I only know about 2 others that have even come up for sale in the last 10 years or so. Please not the dedication on the wooden base of the sculpture. There is one on Gerald Harvey Jones (G. Harvey) tombstone in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas. Western, Cowboy, Horse, Bronc, Bronco Riata, Rodeo G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) Known for paintings closely linked in mood and subject matter to Edouard Cortes [1882-1962], G Harvey creates romanticized street scenes of turn of the century towns in America. Rain slick streets reflect urban lights, and the weather is obviously cold. He grew up in the rugged hills north of San Antonio, Texas from where herds of longhorn cattle were once driven up dusty trails to the Kansas railheads. His grandfather was a trail boss at 18 and helped create an American legend for his grandson. So the American West is not only the artist's inspiration but his birthright. Harvey's early interest in sketching and drawing slowly evolved into a passion for painting in oils. After graduating cum laude from North Texas State University, Harvey took a position with the University of Texas in Austin, but he soon realized that weekends and nights at the easel did not satisfy his love of painting. He abandoned the security of a full-time job in 1963 and threw his total energy into a fine art career. Harvey paints the spirit of America from its western hills and prairies to the commerce of its great cities. His original paintings and bronze sculptures are in the collections of major corporations, prestigious museums, the United States government, American presidents, governors, foreign leader and captains of industry. The Smithsonian Institution chose Harvey to paint The Smithsonian Dream, commemorating its 150th Anniversary. The Christmas Pageant of Peace commissioned Harvey to create a painting celebrating this national event. He has been the recipient of innumerable awards and the subject of three books. G. Harvey lived in Fredericksburg, Texas, with his wife Pat in a 150-year-old stone home built by German settlers. His studio and residence are nestled within the Historic District of Fredericksburg. It is obligation of fine artists to present us with more than pretty pictures. They must also make us feel. Among the western painters of today, there is none more capable of accomplishing this than G. Harvey. In his paintings, the viewer into only sees the physical elements of his subject, but also senses the mood that surrounds them. It is a remarkable aspect of fine art, which few artists are able to master. Gerald Harvey Jones was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1933. His grandfather was a cowboy during the trail-driving era when legends grew up along the dusty trails north from Texas. Family stories of wild cattle and tough men were absorbed by a wide-eyed boy and became the genesis of G. Harvey's art. A graduate in fine arts at North Texas State University, Harvey taught full-time and painted nights and weekends for several years. It was through painting that he found his greatest satisfaction, and his native central Texas hill country provided the inspiration for most of his earliest work. With the development of his talent and the growth of his following, Harvey began to expand his artistic horizons. He left teaching and concentrated on a career in fine art. He sought the essence that is Texas and found it not only along the banks of the Guadalupe, but in cow camps west of the Pecos, and in the shadows of tall buildings in big Texas cities. The streets of Dallas once echoed with the sound of horse hooves and the jingle of spurs. Historic photographs reveal what it looked like, but only an artist like Harvey can enable a viewer to experience the mood and flavor or the time. Contemporary western art has too often centered on the literal representations from its roots in illustrations. Artists like G. Harvey take us a step further, to the subjective impressions that are unique to each great talent and which constitutes something special and basic to fine art expression. Harvey was a soft-spoken and unassuming man who cared deeply about what he painted without becoming maudlin or melodramatic. We sense there is more in each Harvey painting than just that which is confined to the canvas. Resources include: The American West: Legendary Artists of the Frontier, Dr. Rick Stewart, Hawthorne Publishing Company, 1986 Artist G. Harvey grew up in the rugged hills north of San Antonio, Texas from where herds of longhorn cattle were once driven up dusty trails to the Kansas railheads. His grandfather was a trail boss at 18 and helped create an American legend. The American West is not only the artist's inspiration but his birthright. Harvey's early interest in sketching and drawing slowly evolved into a passion for painting in oils. After graduation cum laude from North Texas State University, Harvey took a position with the University of Texas in Austin, but he soon realized that weekends and nights at the easel did not satisfy his love of painting. He abandoned the security of a full-time job in 1963 and threw his total energy into a fine art career. Two years as a struggling artist followed, but 1965 brought acclaim for the artist's first prestigious show, The Grand National exhibition in New York, and the American Artists' Professional League presented him with their New Master's Award. President Lyndon Johnson discovered his fellow Texan's talent, became a Harvey collector and introduced John Connally to the artist's work. Connally was enthusiastic about Harvey's art, and, on one occasion, he presented a G. Harvey original to each governor of Mexico's four northern states. Harvey paints the spirit of America from its western hills and prairies to the commerce of its great cities. His original paintings and bronze sculptures are in the collections of major corporations, prestigious museums, the United States government, American presidents, governors, foreign leader and captains of industry. The Smithsonian Institution chose Harvey to paint The Smithsonian Dream commemorating its 150th Anniversary. The Christmas Pageant of Peace commissioned Harvey to create a painting celebrating this national event. He has been the recipient of innumerable awards and the subject of three books. Through his art, our history lives. Gerald Harvey Jones, better known as G. Harvey, grew up in the Texas Hill Country listening to his father and grandfather tell stories about ranch life, frontier days in Texas, and driving cattle across the Red River. Early in his career, he began to draw inspiration from that collective memory for paintings that would eventually earn him the reputation as one of America's most recognized and successful artists. His art is rooted in the scenic beauty of the land he grew up in and the staunch independence of the people who live there. He says, "My paintings have never been literal representations. They are part first-hand experience, and part dreams generated by those early stories I heard. They are a product of every place I have been, everything I have ever seen and heard." G. Harvey graduated from North Texas State University. He taught in Austin, but continued to study art in his spare time, eventually devoting full time to his painting. The year 1965 was a turning point when he won the prestigious New Masters Award in the American Artist Professional League Grand National Exhibition in New York. It is often said that in viewing a work of art, one is granted a unique look into the thoughts and expressions of values that give meaning to the artist work. Nowhere does this ring truer than the art of G. Harvey. Though Harvey has had nearly two decades of sell-out shows, an outstanding honor came with a series of one-man shows in Washington, D.C. in 1991. The first was at the National Archives featuring his paintings of the Civil War era, then a selection of paintings of notable Washington landmarks was exhibited at the Treasury Department, culminating in a one-man show of 35 paintings at the Smithsonian Institution during their exhibition of The All-American Horse. His work was featured in Gilcrease Museum exhibitions from 1992-1997. In 1987 his alma matter...

Antique Bronze Dog Portrait of a Maltese on a Marble Base French 19th century 1/2 x 8 x 5 1/2 inches The chiseled bronze has a nuanced, rich brown patina depicting a Maltese in the round, seated on a quadrangular marble base decorated with very fine gilt bronze flowers and fluted feet. Napoleon III, Louis XVI style. Based on a model by Jacques Caffieri for the Prince de Condé in 1773. (More images to be added.) Executed during the nineteenth century, this figure is fully in line with the eclectic taste of the reign of Napoleon III. Indeed, the Empress Eugenie brought the Louis XVI style up to date in her castle of Compiègne. Jacques Caffieri is one of the most famous bronze smiths of the eighteenth century. In 1715 he was admitted as a master caster and chiseler, and worked almost exclusively for the crown castles...