Charles Valton (1851-1918) Important Animal Bronze "prélude A l'Amour" (40 Kg)

Important animal group from the late 19th century by the French sculptor Charles Valton (1851-1918) signed on the terrace and bearing a legible foundry stamp Colin in Paris. Large bronze sculpture with felines with brown-golden patina depicting a couple of entwined tigers, a rare model listed and entitled "Préludes a amour". Note that it was exhibited at the 1885 Salon in Paris at the Grand Palais des Champs Elysées. The subject is represented on a turquoise blue marble terrace. Good general condition, beautiful patina, dimensions: 58 cm long X 42 cm high X 29 cm wide. Total weight: 40kg Charles Valton (Pau, 1851-1918) is a French animal sculptor. He was a pupil of Antoine-Louis Barye and Emmanuel Frémiet, famous animal sculptors in the 19th century, whose work is at the peak of the genre. From 1868 to 1914, Valton produced more than 70 animal models and was appointed professor of sculpture at the Germain Pilon school in 1883. He was particularly interested in felines. The Painting and Sculpture Salon, generically called the Salon, is an artistic event that took place in Paris from the end of the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. It exhibited the works of artists originally approved by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture created by Mazarin, then by the Academy of Fine Arts. The initial objective of the show is to present to the public the works of the last laureates of the Academy and, from 1817, of the School of Fine Arts. The first event, installed in 1673 at the Palais-Royal, was called the “Exposition”. From 1692, the works of the various approved artists were presented at the Louvre, and the annual exhibition organized by the Academy from 1737 took the name of “Salon” because it took place at the “salon carré du Louvre”. Around 1750, it took the name of "Salon of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture", then, during the Revolution, the Academy being abolished, it became the "Salon of Painting and Sculpture" and became more democratic in '' opening to artists of all origins under the leadership of painters Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Bernard Restout. It again became the "Salon of the Royal Academy" after 1815, and resumed its name of "Salon of painting and sculpture" under the Second Republic, until 1880 when it took the name of "Salon of French artists" moment when the state monopoly ends. The history of the Paris Salon is punctuated by small and big scandals, events, meetings, ruptures, conformisms, which mark the spirits of the times. It is the place of the emergence of art criticism, of literature, of exchanges, of the affirmation of artistic personalities, and the object of real curiosity, even of a form of rejection. We keep track of it thanks to catalogs and chronicles which allow retrospective analysis of the evolution of forms and taste, constituting an important part of the history of modern art.