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On the Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown, MA, see the first post in this series. In this post: a dozen of my favorite sculptures at the Clark, from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are many, many more sculptures that I’m not showing. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/bIPWHvd_RtQ .

Lemoyne, ca. 1745

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the Younger (1704-1778) was the most notable member of a family of French sculptors who flourished under Louis XIV and Louis XV (1654-1774). His specialty was lively, elegant portraits such as this one of Louis XV. It owes a good deal to Bernini’s 1665 portrait of Louis XIV, which Lemoyne probably saw on display in Paris. Jean-Antoine Houdon, one of the most notable sculptors of the later 18th century, studied with Lemoyne.

Private citizens often displayed sculptures such as this one of Louis XV in their homes, to demonstrate their loyalty to the king. A mass-produced ceramic such as this one was much less expensive than a marble or bronze bust.

Feuchère, 1833

Jean-Jacques Feuchère’s Satan, 1833, is a reminder of the darker side of the Romantic movement. Satan sulks with a broken sword in hand, his bat-like wings wrapped about him. This is a small bronze, barely a foot high.

Hebert, 1877

Pierre-Eugène-Émile Hébert (1823-1893) studied with Feuchère (see above). In this bust (plaster with terracotta slip), he brings to vivid life the author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), famous for La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), a set of 91 finished and 46 unfinished short stories, novels, and essays published from 1829 to 1848.

The most famous portrait of Balzac is by Rodin, 1892-1897 … but I prefer this one. On its base is a relief that refers to a chapter in Balzac’s The Physiology of Marriage (1829), in which Balzac discusses the benefits of married couples sleeping in separate beds.

Degas, 1878-1881

This sculpture is unusual for two reasons. First: Degas chose to show not a famous, elegant ballerina but a ballerina-in-training. Second: the version displayed at the 1881 Impressionist exhibition was modeled of wax, with an added tulle skirt, a human-hair wig, and a silk hair ribbon. The Degas estate sold bronze casts from 1919 to 1930, but you can still see the original wax version at the National Gallery in Washington.

Bernhardt, ca. 1879

When she was in her late twenties, Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was chafing at being cast only in minor roles. As a way to blow off steam, she began learning to sculpt. In 1874, she landed a supporting role in Octave Feuillet’s The Sphinx. She soon took over the lead role, portraying a woman who commits suicide by using a poison ring in the shape of a sphinx.

As a nod to her big break, Bernhardt sculpted this self-portrait as a sphinx or chimera, with the body of a griffon, wings of a bat, and a dragon’s tail. I assumed at first glance that she was thinking of herself as a monster … but in fact, she’s referring to her ability to transform herself. The clue: she’s put a mask of tragedy and comedy on either shoulder.

This small bronze is not just a self-portrait, but a functional inkwell with a stand for a quill. On tours in America, Australia, and elsewhere, Bernhardt would often have a cast of the inkwell put on display in the theater lobby. I first saw one at the Clark. The Clark’s short video about it is here.

Carpeaux, 1870-1873

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) is one of my favorite French sculptors, and one of my favorite 19th-century sculptors from any country. His works always show remarkable passion and energy. The ones you’re most likely to be familiar with are Ugolino, a marble at the Metropolitan Museum (early 1860s) and The Dance, a sculpture for the facade of the Opera Garnier in Paris, 1868.

The Clark has several works by Carpeaux that I like very much. First: Mater Dolorosa, 1870, a meticulously detailed head in flawless Carrera marble of a mother lamenting the loss of her child. More here.

At the other end of the emotional spectrum is the light-hearted The Three Graces, 1872. Like The Dance, the original of this work was created for the facade of the Garnier Opera House in Paris. The Clark owns a bronze caster’s model that would have been used to make more copies.

Carpeaux was also an top-notch portrait sculptor. This bust is of Alexandre Dumas fils (1824-1895), the son of the author of The Three Musketeers. Dumas fils was author of The Lady of the Camellias, whose story was adapted for Verdi’s La Traviata.

The next bust by Carpeaux is even more directly related to opera, which was a tremendously popular art form in the late 19th century. This one shows Charles Gounod, whose most famous opera, Faust, premiered in 1859. (The ability to make a figure in a portrait bust look this dynamic is really quite rare.)

Remington, 1896

Winding up our look at the Clark’s sculpture: a cavalryman helps his wounded bunkmate to safety. Within a quarter century, this sort of sharply focused, detailed representational art is falling out of fashion. (That’s a painting by Remington on the wall behind the sculpture: see this post.)

More

• Also at the Clark Art Institute: many beautiful decorative arts, including some exquisite Sèvres and Meissen china, an astounding pianoforte designed by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and several galleries of American decorative arts.
• I’ve written about the 19th century in French art in Seismic Shifts in Subject and Style: 19th-Century French Painting and Philosophy. It’s a good place to start it if you’re interested in the changes in art during that period, and especially if you’re interested in what major artists think about the role of training in art, the role of reason vs. emotion in creating art, the importance of style vs. subject, and who’s qualified to judge art.
• For more posts on museums, click this tag.
• Want wonderful art delivered weekly to your inbox? Check out my Sunday Recommendations list and rewards for recurring support: details here. For examples of favorite recommendations from past years, click here.