BOURAINE: AN IMPRESSIVE ART DECO BRONZE

A fine, large and elegant Art Deco period BRONZE SCULPTURE which depicts a young dancer, holding a mask in each hand. One is crying; the other laughing ~ originating from the theatre in Ancient Greece, these have become widely known to represent the performing arts.  (The were said to help audience members, often seated far from the stage, to understand what emotions the characters were feeling)

The young girl, with short hair, so fashionable in the 1920s, laughs as she dances freely; the sculptor has captured her balanced elegantly on tiptoe. She is supported on a Sienna Marble two-tier base, with the signature “Matto Sclp”** cast within the integral base. 21.5ins  (54cms) high.  c1910-1925.

** Marcel BOURAINE (1886-1948) was born in Pontoise, France. He studied under Falguiere and was great friends with Pierre Le Faguays, both of whom greatly influenced his work., whilst elements of both can clearly be seen in this work.  He was captured during the First World War and was interned in Switzerland where he produced several monuments, one in the city of Lausanne in 1922. He was noted for the introduction of realism into 19th century sculpture, stylistically assigned to the Art deco period.  He exhibited frequently in the Salons of Paris, and used various pseudonyms.