Large 19th-century Bronze Sculpture, 80cm, By Jef Lambeaux, Musée G. Courbet, The Wrestlers

The Artableaux Gallery partners with museums; this monumental bronze returns to the gallery after its exhibition at the Gustave Courbet Museum in Besançon,
"The Colossi," which took place during the 2024 Olympic Games.
Sold with invoice, certificate, and provenance.

Period: 19th century.
Signed: Signed in the bronze, listed and valued artist.
Exceptional lost-wax bronze with a brown patina.
Bronze in perfect condition.

Provenance:
Museum piece, exhibited at the Gustave Courbet Museum during the 2024 Olympic Games.

Subject: Wrestlers.
Dimensions: Width 80 cm – Height 70 cm – Depth 45 cm – Weight: Approximately 50 kg.

Biography:
Joseph Marie Thomas Lambeaux van Antwerpen, known as Jef Lambeaux (1852-1908).
Jef Joseph Marie Thomas Lambeaux, born January 14, 1852, in Antwerp and died June 5, 1908. Jef Lambeaux, born in 1908 in Brussels, was a Belgian sculptor.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
He was the brother of Jules Lambeaux. In 1883, Jef Lambeaux was one of the founding members of the Brussels avant-garde group Les Vingt.
He was a student of Joseph Geefs and later of the Antwerp Academy.
His studio was located on rue de Savoie (destroyed in 1898), then at no. 104 rue Antoine Bréart (destroyed in 1977) in Saint-Gilles (Brussels).
He won a medal for his debut in 1881 and a gold medal at the Brussels Exhibition. He notably created "The Bitten Faun," shown at the Universal Exhibitions in Brussels (1897) and Paris (1900), but which became the center of a controversy regarding nudes at the 1905 Liège Universal Exhibition, where the work was covered with a veil.
He was considered one of the apostles of realistic sculpture among 19th-century Belgian artists, with creations born from his tormented genius.
A great circus enthusiast and a man of the people, Jef Lambeaux never lost his childhood wonder at the sight of wrestlers, boxers, and other bodybuilders who once performed in the town squares. Sander Pierron reports: "In winter, you will meet Lambeaux every evening at the circus. In summer, in July and August, you are sure to find him in the front row of spectators in the athletic arenas of the fair on Boulevard du Midi." It was there that Lambeaux drew inspiration for his powerful sculpted groups that express the effort, pain and emotions of combat. Jef Lambeaux could not help but be captivated by the muscular phenomenon that is Eugen Sandow.

Another major work:
Human Passions (1886), a marble bas-relief that was incorporated into Victor Horta's pavilion in the Cinquantenaire Park, for which he received a medal of honor at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris.
He was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1903. Since 1899, the relief of Human Passions has been the subject of both praise and criticism. He was named an Officer of the Order of Leopold and the Order of Bavaria. Source: Bénézit, Source: Dictionary of Sculptors – 19th Century Bronzes.

Museums:
Numerous museums possess works by this sculptor.
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium – Wrestling, bronze group, 240 x 167 x 130 cm. Ixelles
Museum: Wrestlers (or the Olympians) dated 1895. Antwerp
Museum: The Wrestlers, etc. Ghent Museum, etc.

Sold with invoice, certificate, and provenance.

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