A marble wall busts carved in strong relief... - Lot 170 - Pierre Bergé & Associés

Lot 170
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Estimation :
10000 - 12000 EUR
A marble wall busts carved in strong relief... - Lot 170 - Pierre Bergé & Associés
A marble wall busts carved in strong relief representing a crying child dressed in an antique style. With the mouth wide open, the tongue and teeth can be seen, the child closes his eyes under the effort of the scream he makes; natural hair worked with a drill bit. Netherlands, attributed to Hendrick de Keyser (Utrecht 1565 - 1621 Amsterdam), circa 1600-1620. H_23.5 cm L_17.5 cm D_9 cm In an oak frame carved on a ebony panel background. The Dutchman Hendrick de Keyser, known as the Elder, is a complete artist, architect, painter, sculptor and medalist. He is responsible for several churches as a builder but also for the rows of brick houses along the canals as an urban planner, so typical of the city of Amsterdam. His sculptor's name is mainly attached to the sumptuous mausoleum of William of Orange, on which he worked until his death; located in the choir of the New Church of Delft, this monument, treated as a building decorated with bronze statues, testifies to his taste for architecture and his great mastery in the work of white and black marbles. More original are these busts of weeping children whose paternity is due to him, such as the bronze busts of the County Museum of Los Angeles (inv. M 84.37, fig. a), marble busts of the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen (inv. KMS5515, fig.b) or the carved wooden one representing Cupid's head screaming under the effect of a bee sting offered a few years ago to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. BK-2007-24, fig. c); this last surprising work constitutes, for the curator F. Scholten, "The best testimony of the vitality and innovative spirit of Dutch sculptors, barely fifty years after the iconoclastic movement". In this marble bust, we find the same will in the expression of the effort made by the child to testify to his annoyance, the result of a particularly accurate observation. Resold for sale due to non-payment
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