Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)... Lot 69

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887) Bust of woman with pearl necklace Terracotta. Signed "A Carrier" on the back. Height 77 Width 47 Depth 20 cm. (accidental damage) Painted wood pedestal. Total height 83 cm. On a Doric column in painted wood imitating marble. Total height with column 188 cm. Provenance: collection of the Niermans family, architects and Grand Prix de Rome, Touraine. Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. A terracotta bust of a woman with a pearl necklace. Painted wood base and doric column. Carrier-Belleuse's work can be viewed from two angles. On the one hand, he presents himself as an extension of 18th-century statuary, inspired in particular by the works of Houdon; on the other, he is part of the almost serial production of the 19th century. Made in terracotta, our example features a young woman with a double strand of pearls on her necklace. It evokes both the fantasy of the Enlightenment, encouraged by Empress Eugénie's attraction to Marie-Antoinette, and the demi-monde from which Carrier-Belleuse drew some of his models, such as Marguerite Bellanger, mistress of Emperor Napoleon III (in "Carrier-Belleuse. Le maître de Rodin", exhibition catalogue, Palais de Compiègne, Paris Ed. de la RMN, 2014, p. 53-54). This bust is part of the production of so-called "fantasy" portraits. The artist obviously drew inspiration from the ceramics workshops with which he collaborated to efficiently increase his output. He uses molds to form the main subject and assembles pieces before firing, in order to personalize it.