l'Improvisateur - Félix Charpentier - Bronze

A beautiful bronze sculpture with a coppery patina depicting a semi-nude young man playing a transverse flute carved from a tree branch, captured in a moment of natural grace and spontaneity.
This model was presented by the southern French sculptor Félix Charpentier (1858-1924) at the 1887 Salon, where it won second prize. He then exhibited it at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition, where it was awarded a silver medal. The sculpture was a great success and was acquired by the French state for the Musée du Luxembourg.

It is now in the collections of the Musée d'Orsay. A monumental bronze version (190 cm high) is housed in the town hall of Bandol, Provence.

The Parisian foundry Jollet & Cie (formerly the Émile Colin foundry), which held the publishing rights, offered the sculpture in three sizes in its catalog until Charpentier's death in 1924.

Bronze with a copper patina.
The front bears the inscription "L'Improvisateur" (The Improviser).
Signed on the side "Félix Charpentier" as well as the foundry mark "Jollet & Cie," used from 1907 to 1923.

Height: 60 cm.
Good overall condition.