Antoine Bourdelle (French, 1861-1929) Lot n° 1

Beethoven, La Joue Appuyée sur une Main 1887-1888. Signed and dated ‘Emile Antoine/Bourdelle'1887' (faintly) on the bust, to the right; with ‘© By BOURDELLE' at the base, bottom left (left profile); also with ‘CIRE/A. VALSUANI/PERDUE' foundry mark, and numbered ‘I' at the base, bottom left (left profile), bronze with golden brown patina Height: 22 1/2 in. (57.2cm) Provenance Rhodia Dufet-Bourdelle, Paris. Acquired directly from the above. Collection of Robert A. Becker, New York, New York. FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC Robert Becker (1920-2019) Robert Becker’s collection of bronzes was an outgrowth of his "great love" for Beethoven’s music, which began in the early 1970s when he founded the Beethoven Society, the first organization in the world to honor the famous German composer. Under Mr. Becker’s presidency, the Beethoven Society sponsored monthly concerts in the Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center in New York City. The concerts showcased rarely-performed works of Beethoven and featured some of the most outstanding names in the music world including Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985), Isaac Stern (1920-2001) and Rudolf Serkin (1903- 1991). The collection itself was further inspired by a visit to the Bourdelle Studio and Museum in Paris in the mid-1970s. There, Mr. Becker and his wife were approached by Antoine Bourdelle’s daughter, then the curator of the artist’s studio and Museum. From that day on, and for a decade after, she would privately sell them a bronze or two every year. Mr. Becker’s last purchase, Beethoven dit Métropolitain, was his favorite bronze, one he never ceased to admire and lovingly compared to the version at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Until now, all twelve bronzes had been kept at Mr. and Mrs. Becker’s private New York apartment. This sale marks their first-ever appearance at auction, having never been on the market or exhibited before. Mr. Becker was awarded t