Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875)

Carpeaux Workshop, 39 boulevard Exelmans, Paris XVI ;

Acquired with the building by the family of the current owner.

From 1857 onwards, Carpeaux worked in Rome on the plaster of the Pêcheur à la coquille, inspired by a young boy he had seen the previous year on a beach in Naples (Musée d'Orsay, inv. RF 1317). Once completed, it would be the sculptor's last work sent to Rome, exhibited at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1858. The naturalistic theme chosen by Carpeaux refers to two famous precedents, François Rude's Jeune Napolitain jouant avec une tortue (1831 Salon) and Francisque Duret's Jeune Pêcheur dansant la Tarentelle (1833 Salon) (musée du Louvre, inv. LP 63, and inv. no. LP 62). A first bronze, cast by Victor Thiébaut and acquired by Baron James de Rothschild, was presented at the 1859 Salon. A marble version, exhibited at the 1863 Salon, was acquired by Napoleon III. Although critics disapproved of the subject matter, the public, on the contrary, widely acclaimed it; buoyed by this success, Carpeaux imagined a companion figure in 1863, the Young Girl with a Shell.

The bronze casting of reduction no. 3 of the Pêcheur à la coquille, same size than the present example, began in 1863; the first examples were cast by Thiébaut, then by Delesalle & Cie. The first examples are characterised by the complete nudity of the young boy, as in the initial model and the bronze exhibited in 1859. A fishing net was added later, resting modestly on the left thigh of the crouching teenager.

The present chef-modèle for the sand casting of the nude version of the Pêcheur à la coquille, which is characterised by the visible wedges and joints, certainly dates from the early years of the edition of the model in this size.

RELATED LITERATURE

M. Poletti, A. Richarme, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux sculpteur. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre édité, Paris, 2003, p. 64, SA 11.