Beschreibung:

Francois Rude (French 1784-1855): A mid 19th Century patinated bronze bust 'Tête De Gaulois (Head of a Gual' the sitter modelled with curling hair and beard looking up to dexter, signed RUDE and raised on a swept moulded rouge marble veined square socle base and square plinth base 47.5cm high Fußnoten Provenance: Property of Gentleman Collector Footnote: Francois Rude was known for his social art including public monuments such 'La Marseillaise' or 'The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 conceived and produced 1833-36 which captured the subject in a dynamic and emotional stylised way. Wining the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1812 he was unable to train in the city due to the Napoleonic Wars. First attracting public attention with his statue of 'Mercury Attaching His Winged Sandals' in 1828 which was still very much in the Neo-Classical tradition he quickly moved into more naturalistic expressive subjects such as 'Young Neapolitan Fisher boy Playing with a Tortoise' in 1831. By the time his statue of 'Marshall Ney' was unveiled in the Place de l'Observatoire in Paris he had completely rejected all Neo-Classical principals for sculpture with the hand of the Marshall holding a sword raised above his head and his mouth open. The monument of 'La Marseillaise' although classical in detail was however very romantic and impetuous in feeling causing his critics to rally against this work and one of his last works 'Bonaparte Awakening to Immortality' unveiled in 1847.