Bronze Statue "the Dancer With Castanets" By Jef Lambeaux (1852 – 1908)

The presented sculpture is a bronze work with a brown and reddish patina, depicting a nude female figure captured in an intense and passionate dance movement.

- Subject and Pose: The figure, embodying the dancer, is represented in a posture of abandon and exaltation. She stands on one leg, with the other lifted and bent, creating a powerful dynamic imbalance. Her body is strongly arched backward, and her head is thrown back, with her face turned upwards. Her arms are raised and crossed behind her head, holding or pulling her flowing hair. This pose accentuates the sinuous lines of her body and expresses the fervor and energy of the movement.

- Materials and Patina: The bronze exhibits a rich, warm patina with shimmering reflections that highlight the figure's musculature and sensual curves. Touches of verdigris are visible on the hair and the uneven base, contrasting with the main brown color and adding depth.

- Base (Socle): The figure rests on a naturalist bronze base, evoking a rocky surface or a clump of earth. This base is itself fixed on a circular plinth of veined red marble, which provides a touch of elegance and stability to the aerial composition.

- Details and Inscription: The modeling is powerful, celebrating the human form. The artist's signature, J. LAMBEAUX, is visibly engraved in the bronze on the rocky base.

Jef Lambeaux is one of the most important and most controversial Belgian sculptors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Although Lambeaux's work is sometimes mistakenly classified as Art Nouveau due to the period and the movement’s significance (sinuous lines), his personal style is solidly rooted in a muscular and expressive Realism, tinged with Neo-Baroque.

- Realism of Passions: Lambeaux defined himself as a realist. He did not seek poetry or philosophy (unlike Symbolism, which also dominated the era), but wanted to represent "force and movement in the human figure." He aimed to strike the eye rather than the intellect.

- Baroque Influence: He was particularly impressed by the Mannerist and Baroque sculptures of Giambologna during his trip to Italy, which explains his predilection for figures in torsion, dramatic gestures, and the celebration of carnal vitality.

- "La Danseuse aux Castagnettes" fits perfectly within this context. It is a pure celebration of physical energy and raw emotion, a theme dear to Lambeaux.

- The artist was known for his powerful and sensual nudes that often caused scandals at the time, notably his famous marble bas-relief Les Passions humaines (1898) for the Universal Exhibition. La Danseuse is a more concentrated expression of this same search for carnal exaltation and movement frozen in bronze.

Joseph Marie Thomas Lambeaux, known as Jef Lambeaux (Antwerp, January 14, 1852 – Saint-Gilles, Brussels, June 5, 1908)

Born in Antwerp into a modest family (his father was a coppersmith), he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he trained in modeling. He developed an early and strong liking for movement and dramatic expression.

Jef Lambeaux is considered a major sculptor of his time. His career is marked by several powerful works that elicited both admiration and controversy:

- 1881: He achieved great success with Le Baiser (The Kiss), a sensual work acquired by the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp.

- 1883: He was one of the founding members of the avant-garde Brussels artists' circle Les Vingt (The Twenty or Les XX), although his academic and realistic style distinguished him from the more Symbolist orientation of some of his colleagues (like James Ensor or Fernand Khnopff).

- 1887: He created the famous Brabo Fountain that adorns the Grand Place of Antwerp.

- 1898: His most famous work, the colossal marble bas-relief Les Passions humaines (Human Passions, intended for a pavilion in the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels), depicts intertwined bodies and was judged so daring by the Catholic Church that it was denounced as a "marble brothel," and the pavilion had to be walled up.

Jef Lambeaux left behind an abundant body of work featuring busts, monumental statues, and figures embodying strength, joy, and human passions, making him a central and romantic personality in Belgian art.