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Richard S. Greenough
Bust of Young Columbus, 1856
A superb and inspiring example of American marble carving. It was fashionable for the marble carvers whether American or European to depict important figures of their time and of those past. Greenough carved this while in Paris. He chose to catpure the explorer at a young age prior to his discovering America. The figure’s head is turned and is gazing into the far distance, suggesting vision and greatness yet to come. The purity of the young man’s brow, the fine curls and the shoulders proudly squared almost make this work a metaphor for the birth of a young nation yet to be realized. It is now in the collection of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana.
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Jean Francois Millet
Les Moissoneurs Endormis
This important and pivotal work dating from 1847 – 48 marks Millet’s move toward realism. The male figure is clearly taken from Michelangelo’s figure of night and the rendering of the exhausted mother and young child evoke in the viewer a compassion and respect that Millet clearly felt for these peasants. It was works such as these by Millet that influenced and changed the course of art coming into the modern age. This work was in the collection of Paul Casimir-Périer, the president of France during the Third Republic. It left the United States and traveled in museum exhibitions in Japan. Its return to the States is fortunate and it has been placed in a private collection in New York.
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Leon Ernest Drivier
Harmonie
A large and very rare relief cast in Paris at Barbedienne by monumental French sculptor Leon Drivier was acquired by Abby Taylor, from the property of Bois Dora in Newport Rhode Island. It had been in the collection of the Dorrance Family and Vice Admiral Stuart Howe Ingersoll. Sold at The International Fine art Fair it was cited by Art & Antiques as one of the top treasures sold in 2005. It sold to a private collector in New York.
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Auguste Rodin
Bust of J. B. Van Berckelaer
An early marble dating from 1875, the year before Rodin sculpts The Age of Bronze was sold by Abby Taylor to The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in November of 2002. Berckelaer was a friend and patron of Rodin. The work is on view in the sculpture wing of the museum.
