A FRENCH MARBLE FIGURE OF `LE PRINTEMPS' (SPRING)

A fine evocation of the neo-classical currents which pervaded French sculpture for much of the 19th century, the present figure representing Le Printemps (Spring) is almost certainly that exhibited by Pierre Loison at the Salon of 1853 (no. 1422) and later in the collection of Charles-Auguste-Louis-Joseph, duc de Morny (1811-1865), half-brother of Emperor Napoléon III. In a contemporary account of the Salon, Henri Delaborde describes Loison’s figure in exact detail, suggesting it is one of the only sculptures to distinguish itself in the exhibition: `Un seul ouvrage réellement distingué, le Printemps, par M. Loison, ressort au milieu de tant de travaux d’un ordre ou d’un mérite secondaires…il respire plus qu’aucun autre la grâce, la finesse et la pureté du style’ (H. Delaborde, `Salon de 1853’ in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1853, vol. II, p. 1155).

After its exhibition at the Salon, Le Printemps was in the collection of the duc de Morny, the illegitimate son of Charles-Joseph, comte de Flahaut and Hortense de Beauharnais, and thus Emperor Napoléon’s III half-brother (S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle, Paris, 1919, vol. III, p. 358). A consummate politician and businessman, de Morny held important governmental positions during the July Monarchy and Second Empire – notably as Ambassador to Russia from 1856-1857 – and amassed a significant fortune through speculation and his work in the sugar industry. The duc de Morny was also known for his opulent and decadent lifestyle, revelling in the excess of the Second Empire, and for amassing a spectacular art collection which included pictures by Rembrandt, Velazquez, Canaletto, Guardi, Fragonard and Watteau, important European sculptures and Chinese and Japanese works of art. Despite his many success, however, de Morny’s finances were in a constant state of flux, and he was, thus, forced to sell portions of his collection during his lifetime. Following his death, a larger sale was organised in 1865, in which the present sculpture was almost certainly that sold on 12 June 1865, lot 439 `Marbre blanc. – Statue de femme, grandeur nature. Elle est nue jusqu’à la ceinture et la partie inférieure du corps est drapée. Beau travail signé Loisonn, 1853. Socle en marbe bleu turquin garni de bronzes dorés.’

Loison was trained in the atelier of the celebrated French Romantic sculptor, David d’Angers (1788-1856), studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and showed regularly in the Salons and international exhibitions of the era. Owing to his considerable talent, Loison garnered important commissions for Parisian monuments including sculptures for Palais du Louvre, the Palais des Tuileries, the Opera house and numerous churches. A figure of Pandora made for the façade of the Louvre several years after the present sculpture (circa 1860) relates closely to the present lot. Both manifest clear antique influence and are simultaneously imbued with the spirit of the age, characteristics which would define Loison’s œuvre. Indeed, as Delaborde suggested in his review of Le Printemps in the Salon, this marvellous work is an indication of its sculptor’s great skill and a sign of things to come in his production: `Le Printemps nous montre clairement tout ce qu’il y a de distinction et de grâce dans le talent de M. Loison’ (H. Delaborde, op. cit., p. 1155).