ÉMILE GUILLEMIN (France, 1841-1907) and ALFRED BARYE (Paris, 1839-1882).
"Arab Knight".
Sculpture in calamine on an oval wooden base.
Signed by both artists.
Measurements: 80 x 60 x 30 cm.
"Arabian Knight" is a flamboyant sculpture by the bronze artists Émile Guillemin and Alfred Barye, created in 1884, now housed in the Louvre Museum. Due to its success, other copies were made following the aesthetics of the original. Like the one in the Parisian gallery, in this sculpture the two artists depict, in a personal style rich in detail, realistic, dynamic and highly expressive, the figure of an Arab horseman returning from hunting, with a duck and a gazelle hanging from the saddle and a rifle on his shoulder. It was a piece of remarkable beauty and importance (in fact, it was one of the most significant sculptures of the so-called Belle Epoque in France). In terms of aesthetics and historical context, "Arab Knight" belongs to the Orientalist style, a movement born in the 19th century as a consequence of the Romantic spirit of flight in time and space, in which artists produced meticulous portraits of Orient and imagined pasts, recreated to the millimetre but ultimately unknown and idealised. It is worth noting that such works, which recall important historical figures or prominent struggles of the past, were common in 19th-century art as they were often chosen to decorate the interiors associated with the male figure in important houses.
A French sculptor of the Belle Époque, Emile Guillemin worked mainly in bronze, although he also produced works in other materials. He trained with his father, the painter Auguste Guillemin, and with Jean-Jules Samson. He exhibited his work at the Paris Salon between 1870 and 1899 and was awarded an honourable mention in 1897.
Alfred Barye le Fils or Alf Barye was a French sculptor of the Belle Époque, a pupil of his father, the artist Antoine-Louis Barye. His work includes bronzes of animals as well as oriental figures.