The Art Lover - Pierre Louis Detrier 1822-1897

Presented at the Salon of French Artists of 1888 Plaster group, under number 4431. Dimensions Height: approx. 42 cm Length: approx. 34 cm Width: approx. 18 cm Weight: 14.8 kg Signature Signed on the motif, on a sheet coming out of the drawing board under the easel. Title cartridge: Salon 1888, Un Amateur The sculpture bears, on either side of the cartridge, the following dedication: Left side of the cartouche: Colonel de Bange / Construction rue Ste Victoire n°3 Right side of the cartouche: to J Leyendecker Architect / Versailles 1894 - 1895 Material Bronze proof, with medal patina The bronze is complete. Slight patina jumps on the back, and on the right elbow.

This refined, delicate, subtle group represents a man leaning over a painting, a magnifying glass before his eye, examining the canvas with enlightened interest. Drawing cardboard, stuck between the legs of the easel, protrudes a few pages. The amateur's attitude is well observed and focuses the attention of the scene on the subject. This composition is today highly sought after by collectors, who see it as a nod to their own situation. This sculpture is very original, even unique of its kind, by its theme, never treated in sculpture. A number of paintings represent painters' studios, the Salon itself, cabinets of curiosities with their collectors, the first of its kind being L'Enseigne de Gersaint, painted by Antoine WATTEAU in 1720. However, sculpture had never represented this theme of the Art Lover, at whatever time, even that of Louis XVI. Presented for the first time in plaster, at the salon of 1888, under the number 4031, and the sober title “an amateur”, the statue received a courteous welcome. Émile TASSEL, professor of descriptive geometry at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and collector of Japanese objects**, acquired*** the bronze model which was presented at the 1896 salon, under the number 1399 and the now definitive title “ The Art Lover, Louis XVI”.

Pierre-Louis DÉTRIER was born in Vougécourt, a small village in Haute-Saône on July 25, 1822. His father, Nicolas, a weaver, was cultivated. His mother, Colette VUILLAUME, was the daughter of a farmer who worked as a clerk in the local administration. The last of a family of 8, he arrived quite late in the profession since he was 44 years old when he exhibited for the first time at the Salon of 1866. The Salon booklets say he was a student of GAYRARD, without further details. Was he the student of Raymond GAYRARD, sculptor and medalist? But he, born in 1777, died at the age of 81 in 1858, 8 years before Pierre-Louis DÉTRIER's first salon, but our sculptor was already 36 years old.

To go further: https://www.lestresorsdegamaliel.com/sculptures/495-l-amateur-d-art-paul-louis-detrier.html

Copyright