Pierre-Jean David, known as David D'ANGERS (Angers,... Lot 217

Pierre-Jean David, known as David D'ANGERS (Angers, 1788 - Paris, 1856) Achille Devéria (1800-1857) Bas-relief in red wax on slate Signed and dated lower right "DAVID 1829 Titled along the left edge "ACHILLE DEVERIA H. 15 x L.13,4 cm Provenance : Victor Pavie (1808-1886), friend of the artist who gave him this wax. Related work: David d'Angers, Achille Devéria, 1828, bronze medallion, Richard Frères cast, diam. 12.5 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. DA66B. Bibliography: Henry Jouin, David d'Angers, sa vie, son œuvre, ses écrits et ses contemporains, Paris, 1878, t. II, p. 469. This beautiful profile portrait in medallion of the painter, illustrator and engraver Achille Devéria belongs to the 'Gallery of Famous Men' of the leader of the Romantic School David d'Angers, initiated in the years 1815 and continued throughout his career until 1854. In the form of a medallion in a style close to the antique, the artist presents his subject in profile. Our red wax bas-relief is a rare testimony of the first step of the modus operandi instituted by the sculptor. In fact, he models beforehand the features of the personalities he considers worthy of praise and whom he wishes to honor personally in wax. His sketches are modeled with dark wax sticks shaped into pellets on small pieces of slate used as a support, a material produced in the vicinity of his hometown, Angers. These slates, like a sketchbook, accompany him everywhere: "People meet me with my little slate running as if I were going to see immortality! The rendering is remarkable, helping to heighten, even through the vivid and spontaneous interventions of this preparatory work, the psychological character of the young painter.