Lot n° 175
Estimation :
6000 - 8000
EUR
François POMPON (1855 - 1933)
"Panther playing".
Bronze... - Lot 175 - L'Huillier & Associés
François POMPON (1855 - 1933)
"Panther playing".
Bronze with black patina.
Signed "Pompon" and numbered 5/12.
Posthumous casting of 1972.
Height : 8 cm - Width : 11.9 cm
Published in 1927 as a finished work while he continues his research in the form taken and polished to perfect it in a
to perfect it in a concise, luminous synthetism without hole nor shade, this sketch of the
little Panther playing reveals a little known aspect of Pompon.
Nervous modelling, attitude, make the charm of this study taken on the spot.
Pompon thus shows his working method which starts with modelling, in front of the animal he is observing
He observes the animal in order to capture a moment that he will transcribe into clay and then into plaster.
His personal vision dictates his hand, which largely defines the planes smoothed with a knife, the line of the back
and continuous from head to tail, while the interior volumes are rendered by crushed pellets, marking their
The inner volumes, rendered by crushed pellets, mark their obviousness without melting them, a vibrant model in the light, expressive and softened.
Although this model has remained with the imprints of speed and surety of modelling, Pompon's love for his "little
Pompon's love for his "dear little animals" shines through in the originality of the composition rounded by the
by the parenthesis formed by the curling of the tail.
This little "Playing Panther" is part of a series of four sketches in different positions
positions (erect, ready to pounce, walking) at the request of Princess Semiha,
Egyptian, in love with sculpture and practicing it herself.
In Paris, in the company of her friend, Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, a sculptor who claimed to be a pupil of
Pompon, she went to his studio in 1924 to have six sketches of Egyptian dancers checked.
Seduced by a black panther exhibited with an antique green patina in 1925, which looked as if it had just come from an archaeological dig, she made it into a
archaeological excavation, she acquired it as well as an equally spectacular Panther head. In
1927 after having ordered a drawing of a small Panther ready to pounce she returned to the studio and
and bought the first proof of the Playing Panther.
Destined to be published from October 1927 in the same condition, in bronze and silver, the Playing Panther was
the others for its easier realization, in bronze but especially in plaster, which Pompon liked to present
that Pompon liked to present the series of 3, giving them willingly. They marked the beginning of the
They marked the beginning of the objects of window, assembled on a column of black marble or bronze. After the death of the artist the
bronze models were taken from the plaster casts in the possession of the executor of the estate
The one of the Playing Panther was acquired by the Tatebayashy Museum (Japan)
Not all of Pompon's copies have the Valsuani stamp like the one we are examining.
posthumous fountains, all signed in wax, generally have it, all were made by Valsuani
before and after his death. No. 2 was exhibited in New York in 1972 at Acquavella Gallery, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9,
10,11 have been sold.
In this one, n° 5/12, one finds however all the manner and the method developed during the years
the years: sharpness of the outer line revealing the two profiles, torsion of the head and synthesis of a
synthesis of a global form here airy- To the softness of its attitude are added the nervousness and a
and thickness that make it come alive.
Wanted in the sketch, spontaneous and careful work, the small Playing Panther is the direct expression
of the sculptor best known for his smooth works in bronze and stone.
Liliane COLAS June 2020
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue