Sculpture - The Standing Bull , Louis Vidal (1831–1892) - Bronze

Bronze cast with a brown patina , depicting a standing bull , by the French sculptor Louis Vidal (1831–1892) .
This sculpture is one of the artist’s major works ,  it was created by Louis Vidal while he was blind .
A renowned animal sculptor , Louis Vidal, known as "Vidal the Blind", or "Vidal-Navatel", was visually impaired from a very young age before becoming blind around 1853 , he then relied on touch instead of sight to shape his sculptures.
Bronze piece resting on a naturalistic base bearing the sculptor’s signature "Vidal (the Blind)".
Antique sculpture , dating from the second half of the 19th century .
In perfect condition with well-preserved patina .

Dimensions : 16 cm x 22.2 cm

Louis Vidal (1831–1892)

Louis Vidal, known as "Vidal the Blind" or "Vidal-Navatel", was a famous French animal sculptor .

Born on December 6 , 1831 , in Nîmes , he grew up in a family of artists , his stepfather was the painter "Alexandre Colin" , who had married his mother in her second marriage .
He began his training with anatomy classes before losing his sight in 1853 , which prevented him from continuing on that path .
He then decided to turn to sculpture .

He studied under the animal sculptors “Antoine-Louis Barye” and “Pierre Louis Rouillard” and became an animal sculptor himself, relying on touch rather than sight .
Louis Vidal remains best known as the creator of a sculpture depicting a "Roaring Lion" , as well as a bronze "Bull" , which was donated by the government to the Museum of Fine-Arts in Nîmes , in 1867.
Louis Vidal worked notably with Alfred Barye , the son of his mentor Antoine-Louis Barye .

The artist became a professor of modeling in 1888 at the School "Braille" in Paris .
His portrait , taken by photographer Étienne Carjat in 1865 and acquired by the National Museums in 1986 , is housed at the Orsay Museum in Paris .

Louis Vidal died on May 9, 1892 , at the "Quinze-Vingts Hospital" in Paris .