Denys Puech (1854-1942) - "hero Crying Leander"

Bronze proof with slate black patinaAntique castSigned "D. Puech" on the terrace on the rightLocated "Rome" and dated 1932Dimensions: Height: 17 cmWidth: 14.5 cm - Depth: 16 cmBibliography:Héro, priestess of Aphrodite, awaits every night the visit of Leander who swims across the Hellespont to join her. One night, Hero's torch is extinguished by the wind and Leander drowns. Lost in sadness, Hero, kneeling, merges with the wave that killed her lover. In his statuary, Denys Puech sometimes approached the art nouveau style: the fluid female figure makes her resemble a flower. He would continuously resume the composition of Hero Weeping for Leander from 1915 to 1929. Academic without being a "pompier", Denys Puech brings the most invention to his subject in the treatment of hair, a realistic element as much as a decorative one. It was during his lifetime, in 1910, that the museum dedicated to his work and to the artists of Aveyron was inaugurated in Rodez. Paris Manaus Gallery