Marie Antoinette par Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower

Cet artiste, Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, a déjà été évoqué dans plusieurs sujets:
https://maria-antonia.forumactif.com/t1341p165-bustes-statues-statuettes-vendus-sur-ebay
https://maria-antonia.forumactif.com/t5049-elizabeth-leveson-gower-duchesse-de-sutherland

Mais il n'avait pas encore de topic bien à lui. Pourtant, sa statuette en vaut largement la peine!





LORD RONALD SUTHERLAND GOWER (BRITISH, 1845-1915) MARIE ANTOINETTE LEAVING THE PRISON OF THE CONCIERGERIE ON THE DAY OF HER EXECUTION

N'est-elle pas sublime de dignité et de simplicité?

Signed R. Gower and initialled L.M. Silvered bronze: 29 cm (11 1/2 in) In March 1875 Gower began studying sculpture in Carrier-Belleuse's studio and immediately modelled two busts of Marie-Antoinette and then a full-length figure of the "unhappy Queen". Gower based his representation on Jacques-Louis David's sketch and relied on the "kind aid and skill" of Luca Madrassi, with whom he shared a studio, in its execution. The marble, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877, was bought by his brother-in-law, the Duke of Westminster, and remains at Eaton Hall, Cheshire. Gower's bronzes were not published commercially, but were often given as gifts to his friends. In 1878 Gower gave a silvered bronze of Marie Antoinette to Thomas Carlyle. Harold Begbie considered that "it is a figure of which every tragic actress should possess a cast in the room where she studies". Literature: Harold Begbie, "The Statuary of Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower", The Magazine of Art, 1902, p.203-4. Philip Ward-Jackson, "Lord Ronald Gower and the Shakespeare Memorial", European Gay Review, 1987, p.59. Philip Ward-Jackson, "Lord Ronald Gower, Gustave Dore and the genesis of the Shakespeare Memorial at Stratford-on-Avon", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol., L, 1987 p.162-3. We are grateful to Dr. Philip Ward-Jackson for his advice in cataloguing this entry.
http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/lord-ronald-sutherland-gower-british,-1845-1915-69-c-0v5qkvt23s

Ronald Sutherland GOWER (1845-1915) : Sceau en bronze argenté représentant la Reine Marie-Antoinette arrivant de la Conciergerie, le jour de son exécution. Ht. 9,8 cm.
http://encheres.parisencheres.com/html/fiche.jsp?id=4345896

Ici elle est aussi :



GOWER Ronald Sutherland,Marie Antoinette heading for execution by guillotine,Phillips, de Pury & Company,Saint Louis

Merci, Chase!

Un autre angle encore:





... J'adore absolument cette petite statue!

Et d'ailleurs je trouve que cette statue est vraiment fidèle en terme de posture : on y voit une Marie-Antoinette sûre d'elle, digne et fière dans une situation ô combien délicate

Nous noterons qu'un exemplaire signé de cette statue sera mis en vente le 10 Octobre prochain chez Christie's.





LORD RONALD GOWER (BRITISH, 1845-1916)
Marie-Antoinette, guillotine bound
signed Ronald GOWER.
bronze, golden brown patina
46 in. (116.8 cm.) high
Circa 1880.

Ce lot est estimé entre 8.000 et 12.000 $.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/sculptures-statues-figures/lord-ronald-gower-marie-antoinette-guillotine-bo-6024516-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=6024516&sid=ab4676d6-f5cd-4a0f-b19a-fca4735093f6

Voici les renseignements complémentaires apportés par les experts de la Maison Christie's.

Lord Ronald Gower, the youngest son of the powerful Duke of Sutherland, started his career as a politician, serving in the British Parliament from 1867-74. The artist subsequently became a self-taught ‘gentleman sculptor’ and an historical writer, eventually exhibiting works in the Paris Salons of 1880 and 1881, the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, and numerous competitions at the Royal Academy. In 1883, the city of Stratford-upon-Avon commissioned Lord Gower to create the Shakespeare Memorial. However, Lord Gower’s first public sculpture was Marie Antoinette (1876), completed eight years prior to the publication of his Marie Antoinette: An Historical Sketch. Both the sculpture and the book were part of the artist's re-examination of Marie Antoinette’s personification of Royal excess and frivolity. In Gower's composition, she is depicted as being led to the guillotine, with her hands bound, her hair hidden to elicit further humiliation and her expression dignified. The figure, cast in small editions, was often retailed by the prolific firm of Tiffany & Co. at their early 20th century outpost in New York's Union Square.

Aucune autre information n'est donnée quant à la traçabilité de la pièce.

Bien à vous

madame antoine

On voit que Lord Gower était bien documenté, sur la maigreur de la Reine, la charlotte, les cheveux coupés, les mains liées. Tout me semble correct.

Exemplaire faisant partie des riches collections de la reine Elizabeth II:


Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016


Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016


A bronze bust of Marie Antoinette depicted on the way to the scaffold, looking forward with head tilted upwards, wearign a hat with a band and frills. The bust is set on a circular moulded base. The life of Marie Antoinette, queen consort of Louis XVI of France, was a topic that fascinated Gower. He describes it in his auto-biography as an 'all-absorbing subject'. Gower made several versions of his portrait of Marie Antoniette on the way to her execution. This bronze was cast by the firm of the Parisian founder Ferdinand Barbedienne.

Provenance
Possibly acquired by Edward VII, when Prince of Wales. A plaster bust of Queen Marie Antoinette being led to her execution was recorded in the 1877 'Catalogue of works of art at Marlborough House and Sandringham belonging to HRH The Prince and Princess of Wales'.
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/70172/queen-marie-antoinette

L'on signalera l'exemplaire mis en vente incessamment sous peu à Blois.
https://maria-antonia.forumactif.com/t4224p850-ventes-aux-encheres#335838

Il était beau gosse en plus le gars ..........

The Shakespeare Monument :



Detail



Made by Lord Ronald Gower in 1877-88, bronze and stone. This monument is located in Bancroft Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon. Beautiful, isn't it ?

The statue Gower made of the Queen :



Made in 1877, this marble statue measuring 180 cm is called Marie Antoinette on her Way to Execution (Collection of the Duke of Westminster).

Zoom sur le visage de la reine

here again