(Montrouge, 1824 – Paris, 1910)
Bronze
Circa 1845-1846
Signed: FREMIET
The Artist
Coming from an artistic Burgundian family, Frémiet was able to acquire meticulous knowledge of human and animal anatomy and gain a powerful and highly accurate capacity for observation.
The Item
The present bronze sculpture depicts a goat with a collar watching its newborn resting on its mother’s legs. Frémiet skillfully captured the animal, its anatomy and its fur. The bronze sculpture is executed with vitality in which a lively dynamism is tangible. With his true style inspired more by Naturalism than Romanticism, Frémiet was the first artist to depart from Barye’s art. He had a gentle style suffused with a classic simplicity typical of Neoclassicism. He popularized realistic representations of animals’ worlds via their natural postures and expressions.
Provenance
Two examples of Chèvre et ses Petits (Goat and its Young) (Fig. 1) were commissioned by the state in 1858. In 1873, the artist exhibited the model in Vienna during the Universal Exhibition.
Certificate
Frémiet’s works can be found in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Park of the Neudeck castle, Swierklaniec, Poland.
