Bronze Bust Of Laporte-blairsy

Léo LAPORTE-BLAIRSY (Toulouse 1865-1923) Breton woman in Aven headdress circa 1900 gilt bronze H: 13 cm; W: 14 cm signed 'Laporte-Blairsy' on the back A sculptor and medalist from Toulouse trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Léo Laporte-Blairsy is an eminent French artist who established himself, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as one of the major representatives of Art Nouveau in France. In Toulouse, his hometown, his artistic legacy is particularly rich. His works, such as The Sculpture in high relief on the facade of the École supérieure des beaux-arts, or The Roman Poetry, on the Place de la Concorde, embody his attachment to his native land and its history. Many of his works are now held in major public institutions, notably the Musée d'Orsay. In this Breton woman in an Aven headdress, the gilded bronze captures the melancholic sweetness of a face frozen in reverie. The artist celebrates the simple dignity of regional figures, transfigured by light and memory.