Antoine Poncet Art

William King (1925-2015). Reclining figure, ca. 1965. Cast and welded bronze, 7 x 9.5 x 5 inches. Unsigned. William King, a sculptor in a variety of materials whose human figures traced social attitudes through the last half of the 20th century, often poking sly and poignant fun at human follies and foibles, died on March 4 at his home in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 90. His death was confirmed by Scott Chaskey, who is married to Mr. King's stepdaughter, Megan Chaskey. Mr. King worked in clay, wood, bronze, vinyl, burlap and aluminum. He worked both big and small, from busts and toylike figures to large public art pieces depicting familiar human poses -- a seated, cross-legged man reading; a Western couple (he in a cowboy hat, she in a long dress) holding hands; a tall man reaching down to tug along a recalcitrant little boy; a crowd of robotic-looking men walking in lock step. But for all its variation, what unified his work was a wry observer's arched eyebrow, the pointed humor and witty rue of a fatalist. His figurative sculptures, often with long, spidery legs and an outlandishly skewed ratio of torso to appendages, use gestures and posture to suggest attitude and illustrate his own amusement with the unwieldiness of human physical equipment. His subjects included tennis players and gymnasts, dancers and musicians, and he managed to show appreciation of their physical gifts and comic delight at their contortions and costumery. His suit-wearing businessmen often appeared haughty or pompous; his other men could seem timid or perplexed or awkward. Oddly, or perhaps tellingly, he tended to depict women more reverentially, though in his portrayals of couples the fragility and tender comedy inherent in couplehood settled equally on both partners. Mr. King's work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, among other places, and he had dozens of solo gallery shows in New York and elsewhere. But the comic element of his work probably caused his reputation to suffer. Reviews of his exhibitions frequently began with the caveat that even though the work was funny, it was also serious, displaying superior technical skills, imaginative vision and the bolstering weight of a range of influences, from the ancient Etruscans to American folk art to 20th-century artists including Giacometti, Calder. and Elie Nadelman. The critic Hilton Kramer, one of Mr. King's most ardent advocates, wrote in a 1970 essay accompanying a New York gallery exhibit that he was, "among other things, an amusing artist, and nowadays this can, at times, be almost as much a liability as an asset." A "preoccupation with gesture is the focus of King's sculptural imagination," Mr. Kramer wrote. "Everything that one admires in his work - the virtuoso carving, the deft handling of a wide variety of materials, the shrewd observation and resourceful invention - all this is secondary to the concentration on gesture. The physical stance of the human animal as it negotiates the social arena, the unconscious gait that the body assumes in making its way in the social medium, the emotion traced by the course of a limb, a torso, a head, the features of a face, a coiffure or a costume - from a keen observation of these materials King has garnered a large stock of sculptural images notable for their wit, empathy, simplicity and psychological precision." William Dickey King...

Dr. Licky is a creature of the rain forest. With her elongated tongue, she licks, tastes and explores the countless mysterious microorganisms, plants and insects teeming in the tropical terrain. She also aids in the discovery of new medicines to share with the world. They are an acquired taste. Material: Pewter base, double brass-plated and 18-karat gold-plated and hand polished three times. Hand-beaded with Venetian and Czech glass beads. Underside incised with “Dr. Licky” by The Haas Brothers and Haas Sisters...

Hot Shot, active and alert, uses her stalked eyes to surveil the land for any potential volcanic eruptions and to warn all of those in the area. Make no mistake, her frantic temperament is not a weakness, as she is a known heroine. Thick-skinned, she can even swim in lava, her eyes bobbing above the boiling flow. When the heat is on, she can keep her cool. Material: Pewter base, double brass-plated and 18-karat gold-plated and hand polished three times. Hand-beaded with Venetian and Czech glass beads. Underside incised with “Hot Shot” by The Haas Brothers and Haas Sisters...

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1796-1875 "Charles VII, The Victorious" Sand-cast dark-brown over medium-brown patinated bronze signed "BARYE", cold-stamped underside "43" "00" and pu...

Rotazione Ascensoriale I , 1993 bronze sculpture h15 x 12.5 x 8 cm approx , ( including base ) , diameter Ø approx 13.5 cm limited edition , numbered: 15/70 signed dated and numbered...

Bronze Sculpture 'Bolas IV' by Carola Eggeling Abstract sculpture with beautiful curved lines. German bronze sculpture Bronze Patina Certific...

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE France, 1796-1875 Tigre Qui Marche Sand-cast bronze with medium-brown, black and coppery patination signed "BARYE" with gently raised edges, incised "F. BARBED...

Bronze Sculpture of a Whippet Dog by Antoine-Louis Barye After Antoine-Louis Barye France; ca. 1880 Bronze Approximate size: 5.25”H x 7.25”W x 4”D The 19th-century French sculptor...

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1795-1875 "Tigre Qui Marche" Patinated bronze Signed in base "BARYE", incised "F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR, FRANCE" conceived 1841, cast circa 1880-1900 Item # 110UGP10Q Barye's ability to merge our romantic idealization of nature with a colder reality of nature's predator is beautifully represented in this striding cat. Originally conceived in 1841, Tigre Qui Marche (Walking Tiger...

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1796-1875 Panther of Tunisia [smaller version] Sand-cast patinated bronze Signed in cast BARYE Cast executed last quarter of the 19th century 3 1/2" H ...

October Moon is a unique ink, paint and wax on Alabaster sculpture by contemporary artist Richard Perry, dimensions are 21.5 × 21.5 × 19 cm (8.5 × 8.5 × 7.5 in). The sculpture is si...

Lip Tide can be found lounging on the beach, her spiky top blending in with bushes and palm trees. This particular creature personifies R & R, perched in the sand and soaking up the rays of the sun. Her colossal lips can buoy her through any crashing wave or rip tide. She has been known to save lives from a drowning death. Pucker up, buttercup...Lip Tide just saved your life. Material: Pewter base, double brass-plated and 18-karat gold-plated and hand polished three times. Hand-beaded with Venetian and Czech glass beads. Underside incised with “Hot Shot” by The Haas Brothers and Haas Sisters...