: From September 28 through January 2, "European Bronzes from the
Quentin Collection" will be at the Frick Collection. It is the
first public exhibition of a distinguished, little-known private
collection devoted to the art of the statuette from the Sixteenth
through Eighteenth Century. This will be the sole venue.
The exhibition features almost 40 sculptures, including exemplary
works by Italian masters of the genre such as Giambologna,
Giovanni Francesco Susini and his uncle Antonio Susini, Francesco
Fanelli and Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, as well as examples by
their equally gifted northern contemporaries such as Hendrick de
Keyser and Barthélemy Prieur.
Primarily consisting of bronzes, with some works in terra-cotta
and precious metal, the collection has been discriminatingly
assembled over the last 25 years. Many, like Giambologna's "Mars"
and "Sleeping Nymph," are outstanding examples of famous
compositions. Other masterpieces, such as the mysterious
"Allegorical Deity Seated on Grotesques," are new discoveries
exhibited here for the first time. The Quentin Collection
presents some of the best examples by generations of European
master sculptors who were inspired by the human form.
The exhibition, coordinated by the Frick's associate curator
Denise Allen, is made possible through the generosity of The
Quentin Foundation with additional support from the Fellows of
The Frick Collection.
Most
of the sculptures, including Giambologna's "Mars," will be shown
freestanding and without vitrines. This freedom of viewpoint
allows the visitor to experience how the artist used the
expressive logic of pose to identify the god of war with martial
readiness. His muscles taut and eyes fixed on the enemy, Mars
halts his stride, exploiting the force of arrested motion to
swing his body and sword arm backward in preparation for attack.
His free arm sweeps forward to balance his rotating movement, his
hand poised at the instant it most resembles a gesture of
command.
"Mars" displays the sculptor's ability to depict the subtle
movements of muscles bunching under skin, of eyes tightening in
concentration, and of lips parting to draw in breath. This
virtuoso combination of illusionism and technique is even more
astonishing when one considers that "Mars" is little more than 15
inches tall.
"Allegorical
Deity Seated on Grotesques," is sometimes attributed to the Dutch
sculptor Adrian de Vries. The robust muscular ease with which the
idealized nude deity sits astride bat-winged monsters so
effectively subjugates the creatures that the group has been
interpreted as an allegory of good triumphant over evil - all in
a work that can be comfortably held within one's hands.
Composition, scale and meticulously crafted detail provide
insight into this sculpture's meaning even though its exact
subject and function have yet to be discovered.
Each
small bronze was made to evoke multiple associations that
captivated the rulers and wealthy educated classes who collected
them. The more is known about this history, the richer the
understanding of this art form becomes. During the Renaissance
collectors and sculptors often looked back to classical antiquity
as a model.
The anonymous northern Italian master of the "Hercules and
Antaeus," for example, based his composition on an over-life-size
classical marble fragment, then known even in its ruined state as
"the most beautiful statue in Rome." By imaginatively
reconstructing the monumental, fragmentary marble in small-scale
bronze, this sculptor rivaled the greatest achievements of the
past and literally placed those achievements, miraculously
restored, into the hands of his patrons.
Renaissance
statuettes were often displayed in the more private confines of
the collector's house or palace, where they were occasionally
placed on tables so that they could be turned, touched and held.
This intimate relationship between viewer and object frequently
inspired sculptors. Giambologna, for example, crafted the smooth,
silken, lacquered surfaces of the voluptuous "Sleeping Nymph" to
invite the sense of touch. His sensual conception springs from
the Sixteenth Century's interest in the sleeping female figure.
Seventeenth
Century bronze statuettes, like Francesco Fanelli's "Mercury and
Cupid," were often larger than their earlier Renaissance
counterparts. At almost three feet tall, the "Mercury and
Cupid's" size and dramatic, sweeping forms were meant to
harmonize with grand public spaces, like the picture galleries
typical of this period. The sculpture's subject is drawn from
Apuleius's tale of the star-crossed lovers Cupid and Psyche and
illustrates Mercury about to proclaim that Psyche must be
returned to the bondage of Cupid's jealous mother, Venus. Fanelli
depicts the winged god with his messenger's trumpet in hand,
poised at the instant of flight on cloudy winds that loft him
skywards.
The little Cupid clutching Mercury's leg appears
heavy by contrast, as he yields his weight like a ballast stone
in a desperate attempt to halt the fateful flight. Cupid merely
earns Mercury's backward glance, and the lover's cruel separation
is sealed by the messenger god's elegant, inexorable ascent.
The
sculptor's concise language of pose and gesture is movingly
expressed by Massimiliano Soldani's "Pietà with Two Putti." Made
during the early Eighteenth Century when Soldani was a master
medallist to the Florentine Grand Dukes, the "Pietà" is one of
the latest works in the Quentin Collection, and one of the few
masterpieces in terra-cotta. Soldani's dead Christ with mourning
angels is a compianto, a work intended for use during the
Catholic devotions that aroused compassionate empathy for the
Savior's passion and death.
The loosely flowing, masterful freedom with which Soldani modeled
the wet clay tempers the harrowing subject and endows the
sculpture with a hushed, graceful lyricism that inspires
meditation. Soldani produced many larger more complex versions
(which include the Virgin accompanied by numerous angels) in
terra-cotta and in bronze, while porcelain examples were created
after his death. The Quentin "Pietà," however, is the only
surviving version of this composition by Soldani in any medium.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 360-page catalog, co-authored
by Dr Manfred Leithe-Jasper, director emeritus, department of
sculpture and decorative arts at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in
Vienna, and Patricia Wengraf, esteemed sculpture dealer.
Leithe-Jasper and Wengraf introduce many heretofore unknown
sculptures, backing their arguments and attributions with
thorough research, the most up-to-date technical evidence and the
kind of expertise that can only be acquired by years of focused
study in the field.
In preparation for the publication, ten of the Quentin bronzes
underwent full technical analysis at the National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C. Shelley Sturman, conservator and head of objects
conservation, has written detailed technical reports on this
group.
The catalog, published by M.T. Train/Scala Books, is illustrated
and includes a large number of comparative images, which are
essential to the understanding of the intricacies of attribution
inherent in this field. The catalog is $125 through the museum at
www.frick.org, or
212-288-0700.
On Wednesday, September 29, at 6 pm, Manfred Leithe-Jasper will
give a free lecture entitled "Learning by Doing: Cataloging
European Old Master Bronzes in the Quentin Collection."
