“an Emotion” Bronze Sculpture Signed Auguste Moreau

A charming sculpture depicting a young girl playing with a small dog jumping up and down beside her. The sculpture's lively expression and the meticulous rendering of the fabrics are testament to the poetic and naturalistic style of Auguste Moreau, a leading figure in 19th-century French decorative sculpture.
It has a beautiful brown patina and rests on a round base with a cartouche inscribed "une émotion" (an emotion).

Auguste Moreau (1834–1917) was a French sculptor born in Dijon in 1834 and died in Malesherbes in 1917. He belonged to a renowned dynasty of artists: son of the sculptor and painter Jean-Baptiste Moreau, and brother of the sculptors Hippolyte and Mathurin Moreau, all three celebrated for their refined and sensitive creations. Trained in his father's workshop and then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Auguste Moreau made his debut at the Salon of 1861, where he exhibited regularly until the end of the century. His work belongs to the great naturalist and romantic tradition of 19th-century French sculpture. Moreau focused on depicting genre scenes imbued with poetry and gentleness, often centered on children, young girls, or allegorical figures. His compositions reflect a marked taste for expressiveness, movement, and grace, while remaining accessible to the bourgeois public of the time. His bronze sculptures with a gilt or brown patina, often produced by major Parisian foundries such as L. & F. Moreau, Val d'Osne, or Susse Frères, were highly prized for decorating the refined interiors of the Belle Époque. Today, Auguste Moreau is recognized as one of the emblematic representatives of sentimental and decorative sculpture of 19th-century France, alongside his brothers. His works continue to captivate with their balance of emotion, elegance, and delicate realism.