Paganini, Nicolò. (1782–1840) [Cortot, Alfred. (1877–1962)] David d’Angers, Pierre-Jean. (1788 - 1856)
Bronze Bust Portrait of Paganini - FROM THE CORTOT COLLECTION
A fine example of this celebrated portrait of the violinist-composer in profile, cast bronze with warm brown patina, 6 in. diameter, signed and dated 1834 at lower center, inscribed with sitter's name to left, and with foundry mark "Eck et Durand" to verso, stamped with the number 357 to the upper edge, with a later metal hanging loop soldered to verso, Christie's label affixed to verso. With remarkable provenance from the collection of Alfred Cortot, one of the great pianists of all time, as well as an important collector of antiquarian music and historical music memorabilia.In 1817, the young French sculptor Pierre-Jean David d’Angers caused a stir at the Paris Salon with his monument to a seventeenth-century French general. Its energetic composition and depiction of the hero in historical costume challenged neoclassical norms and helped to usher in the age of Romanticism. Lauded by Victor Hugo as the "Michelangelo of Paris," David became one of the most important sculptors of the nineteenth century. An ardent Republican and political dissident, experimental writer, and confidant to innumerable artists and intellectuals (from Balzac and Paganini to Goethe and Delacroix), he was both celebrated and controversial during his lifetime. The strong three-dimensionality of David d’Anger’s medals and the personal heroic nature of their subject matter was enormously influential on a whole generation of young artists.
In 1827 he began working in earnest on his Galerie des Contemporains which eventually numbered over 500 portraits. All of the medals created by David in this series are uniface, i.e. one-sided, and cast in bronze. Most of these portraits are modeled in profile, with a very few drawn in three-quarters view. As quoted by the critic Charles Blanc, David said: “I have always been profoundly stirred by a profile. The [full] face looks at us; the profile is in relation with other beings. The [full] face shows you several characteristics, and is more difficult to analyze. The profile is unity.” His Galerie portrayed famous artists, writers, musicians and politicians both contemporary and historical, including many figures involved in the Romantic movement.
In 1833 David immortalized Niccolo Paganini in a bust that is considered to be one of the finest sculpted portraits of the period, and his medal of 1834 is one of the icons of the Galerie. For David, this musician was a man of unparalleled force and genius. The strong brow ridges and exaggerated cranial dome reflect David’s interest in the expressive possibilities of the phrenological theories current in the early nineteenth century. In his journal David writes of the experience of depicting Paganini, “it seems to me that the soul has a tyrannical power over this too weak body--he never laughs, he has too much genius...When I told him that I wanted to depict him...with his head leaning forward, and to the side, like a man playing the violin, he told me, yes, because I take from my interior to impress my exterior.” This medal is a prime example of David’s ability to concretize the psychological characteristics of his subjects by subtly exaggerating their physiognomy. (20622)
Ephemera