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Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> A vital point when discussing the success of the animalier school was the talent and tenacity of Antoine-Louis Barye. He was the corner-stone and his personal achievements had a bearing on the success and popularity of the animalier school. These were also enhanced by several coincidental factors the revival of interest in small bronze sculptures the technical advancement made in the early nineteenth century the greater distribution of wealth and a subtle desire for change such as that which occurred after the first world war war. In 1831 Barye exhibited his “Tiger and Gavial”. This work caused a furore. Since the ancient world the animal had had a somewhat secondary position in sculpture it was either symbolic decorative or simply used as an appendage to the more important human form and Barye’s preoccupation with it in ‘pride of place’ brought him much strong criticism from the academics of the art world. Knowing nothing of zoology they accused him of ‘inventing nature nevertheless these out- bursts did no harm for the old maxim that ‘any criticism is better than none at all applied. Remarks such as this together with a great deal of justifiable praise from the more courageous made certain that this work was not ignored. One partial critic wrote of the “Tiger and Gavial” “the reality of this piece is so vivid the one feels followed by the odour of the menagerie’. This model was extremely important in the history of nineteenth century French sculpture as it not only brought recog- nition for Barye but also for the subject he chose Indirectly the S?vres Porcelain Company was in some way responsible for the renewal of interest in small bronzes. In the eighteenth century famous sculptors had composed groups for them on the small scale which were reproduced in ‘biscuit” or parien porcelain. These were extremely popular and later there was to be an interest and demand for the original models themselves and by the early part of the nineteenth century the small bronze was once more in favour. The animaliers profited by this and the Salon exhibitions of the 1830’s onwards saw not only work by Barye but by other animal artists exhibiting for the first time. Fratin in 1831 Pierre Jules Mene in 1838 Rosa Bonheur in 1841 and Fr?miet in 1843 followed by many others. (OS)