Gallery of the Masters Figurative Sculptures

Villeroy & Boch Mettlach #2122 Etched 4L. by Heinrich Schlitt (1849-1923). Stamped and Marked on Bottom Signed along Base. Painted Ceramic with Pewter Lid. Roman soldiers and monk wi...

Preparing to Ride By. George B. Marks (American, 1923-1983) Signed and Dated Throughout his artistic career, George Marks’s work was always guided by the...

The Holdup of the Overland Stagecoach By. Gordon Phillips (American, 1927-2011) Initialed and Edition 493/750 Gordon Phillips was born in 1927 in Boone, North Carolina. He studied a...

Native American Girl with Doll By Dave Powell (American, b. 1954) Signed on Back 17.5" x 8" Dave Powell is a native son of Montana, in a world of change and transition; few can say they have roots in a single geography that go back four generations. Dave's pedigree in art is just about as deep. He is the son of artists Ace Powell and Nancy McLaughlin Powell. That heritage leads back to the likes of Charlie Russell and Joe De Young, both famous for their abilities to "tell the story" through their art. His father, Ace Powell, was a prolific Western artist whose first childhood paint-box set was a gift from Charlie and Nancy Russell. Dave became a serious student of art in his mid-teens, and has been a professional artist most of his adult life. Over the years he has worked with Bob Scriver, Ned Jacob and Robert Lougheed. Dave will be the first to give thanks...

Emiliano Zapata / Frog Revolutionary, 1981 By David Gilhooly (1943-2013) 20" x 11.5" Whimsical and irreverent, Mr. Gilhooly was internationally accla...

Frog and Swiss on Rye, 1981 By David Gilhooly (1943-2013) 4.75" x 3.5" x 4.5" Whimsical and irreverent, Mr. Gilhooly was internationally acclaimed for his imaginative ceramic works...

Burrito Frog, 1981 By David Gilhooly (1943-2013) 8" x 4" x 2" Signed Underneath Whimsical and irreverent, Mr. Gilhooly was internationally acclaimed for his imaginative ceramic work...

"Seascape" (Foot) 1967 Screenprinted Vacuum-Formed Plexiglass In Colors Scratch-Signed, Dated and Numbered 92/101 14 1/4 x 12 15/16 x 3/4 in (36.1 x 32.9 x 2 cm). Known for his Pop-...

Fish Pitcher 1952 Turned Pitcher 13 cm x 21 cm/approx 8 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches Red Earthenware Clay, Decoration in Engobes Black, White Edition Madoura Picas...

JOIE DE VIVRE (A. Ramié no. 346) stamped, marked, engraved and numbered 'Madoura Plein Feu/Empreinte Originale de Picasso (underneath) unglazed white ea...

Ernest Tino Trova "Falling Man and Form" 1996 Brass and Bronze 14 x 4.5 x 4.5 inches Signed and Numbered 1/1 (Unique) Known for his Falling Man series in...

Alfred Barye (1839-1882) "Lion and Antelope" Bronze Approx. 7.5H x 9W x 4D inches Signed "BARYE.ALF" and Inscribed under base "NO. 23 LION AND ANTELOPE" The son of a goldsmith, Parisian born Antoine-Louis Bayre was a sculptor of animal subjects and acclaimed, not only for his apparent skill, but as the founder of what became known as the French Animaliers School. Among his patrons were representatives of the state government and royalty including the Duke of Orleans and the Dukes of Luynes, Montpensier and Nemours. Well compensated financially, he was able to buy the best of materials and hire the country's most skilled foundry craftsmen. The foundry he hired was owned by Ferdinand Barbedienne, and casts from this period were stamped with the letters, FB. However, he did not make a lot of money from his work because he was such a perfectionist that often he would not sell his work because he thought it was not 'quite right'. In 1848, he declared bankruptcy, and his molds and plaster casts were sold along with the copyrights. Bayre's specialty was aroused, angry seeming wild game such as lions and tigers and elephants, but he also did equestrian groups and mythology figures. In order to do realistic depictions of animal anatomy, he spent much time at the Jardin de Plantes in Paris. His early training was as an apprentice to a metal engraver, but being drafted in the army in 1812, ended that education. In 1832, he had established his own studio, and unique at that time was his method of cold stamping his bronze casts, so that each one had a special number. He had his first entry, The Milo of Croton...

Lazzaro Donati (Italian 1926-1977) "La Regina" Bronze Signed on Base Size: approx 19 x 9 x 9 inches Lazzaro Donati (1926-1977) was born in Florence in 1926 and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. He began to paint in 1953, and in 1955 held his first exhibition at the Indiano Gallery in Florence. Within three years eleven exhibitions followed in Italy, and as his reputation grew he was invited to give major exhibitions in London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. He is considered one of the foremost contemporary Italian painters and his paintings hang in museums and private collections throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Mr. Donati lived and worked at 24 Piazza Donatello in Florence, the square where generations of artists have created works worthy of the great Florentine tradition. As you entered the narrow hallway to his studio, a gilded life-size Venetian angel beckoned you to his door. Once inside, the present faded away and you found yourself in an atelier where early masters might have worked during the Renaissance. Within, luxurious Persian rugs set off the innumerable objects d'art and antique furnishings. Light poured in through the sloping glass wall on the north side. A dramatic stairway led to an overhanging balcony which served as a private gallery where the artist hung some of his favorite early works. To the left of the entrance was a smaller studio where Donati sculpted, with a window overlooking the famous old English cemetery where tourists laid flowers on the grave of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In the main studio itself, where Donati received his clients in an atmosphere as polished as an office of a top executive, one hardly realized that it was here that the artist actually painted. His easel was covered with Persian blue velvet, the painting on the easel was already framed, his chair was upholstered in red velvet and on his palette the colors were arranged with the precision of a Byzantine mosaic. In a corner stand were his latest works, framed and ready to be sent off to his next exhibition in Europe or America. Donati was a born host with a warm welcome, an elegant man who possessed enormous charm a good nature and a keen sense of humor. Apparently shy, he preferred to speak on subjects extraneous to his art, purposely distracting you from his paintings, then leading you back to them, tactfully and without pretension. He spoke fluent French and English as well as some Spanish and German. "After all", he said, "you've got to know how to sell a painting to everyone." He had no sympathy for the "drip and splash" studios of his contemporaries, preferring to keep his studio tidy and spotless. "Painting is a matter of precision", he said, "If a painter can't put his paint where he wants it to go, I don't see how he can call himself a painter. For me it is absolutely necessary to control the paint." When asked to reveal the technique he used to achieve the enamel-like finish typical of his paintings he answered, "That is a secret between me and my butler. Actually, most of my paintings are done by him!" But in fact behind the façade, Donati was a serious craftsman who devoted to his painting as a way of life and means of expression. From the beginning of his career, his paintings revealed a striving for perfection and continual research in problems of style and technique. His early works indicated a momentary interest in surrealism and abstract art; they were predominantly two dimensional, depending on line and strong color. But by 1958, with his painting The Lady with a Fan...

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887) "Leda and the Swan" c .1858 Bronze w/Gold Patina 18 x 24 x 14 Signed "A. Carrier" Based upon a c...

Jules Moigniez "Mountain Goat" Bronze approx 11 x 9 x 4 inches Signed Jules Moigniez (1835-1894) Jules Moigniez was born in Senlis sur L'Oise, France ...

Carl Kauba "Going into Battle" c. 1920s Bronze with Brown Patina Signed approx 10 x 10 x 4 (including wooden base) This Austrian sculptor was born in Vienna in 1865. His teachers were Karl Waschmann (1848-1905), known for his ivory sculptures and portrait plaquettes of contemporary celebrities, and Stefan Schwartz (1851-1924), who exhibited in Paris, including the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he won a gold medal. Kauba's intricate bronzes, imported to the United States between 1895 and 1912, were cast at the Roman Bronze Works. Kauba was part of the nineteenth-century tradition of polychrome bronze sculpture. There were several types of patinas on a single statue: he could render the color of buckskin, variously tinted shirts, blankets, feathers, as well as beaded moccasins. Reportedly, Kauba came to America around 1886. Inspired by the Western tales of German author Karl May, he traveled to the West and made sketches and models. Critics, however, pointed out inaccuracies of costume and other details. For instance, the guns that his "mid-nineteenth-century" figures use are models produced after 1898. Apparently he did all of his works back in Vienna. Besides the variety of color, Kauba's bronzes show a great range of textures and his style is highly naturalistic. The sculptor loved ornament, some of which he rendered with coiled wire for reins, rope and feathers in headdresses. He successfully rendered figures in motion and often executed compositions with more than one figure. Berman (1974) illustrates non-Western subjects by Kaula, such as the pendants Where? and There (ca. 1910), a seated Scottish couple, impressive in the expressions and the details on patterned fabrics of both sitters. Another genre piece is Buster Brown...

Antoine Bofill "Little Red Riding Hood" Bronze Inkwell 6H x 10W x 6D Signed Inscribed: 25 Septembre 1920 Antoine Bofill was born in Barcelona i...

Pierre Jules Mene "Chien Braque" (Tom) Bronze approx. 5 x 9 x 4.25 Signed PIERRE JULES MENE (1810-1879) Pierre Jules Mene, (P. J. Mene), was born in Pa...

Pierre-Jules Mene "The Hunter and Hound" (Le Valet de Limier) 1879 Bronze approx. 19 x 8 x 14 inches Signed PIERRE JULES MENE (1810-1879) Pierre...

Carl Kauba (1865-1922) "Native American in Canoe" Polychrome Bronze Signed approx 5.5 x 10 x 2.75 inches This Austrian sculptor was born in Vienna in 1865. His teachers were Karl Waschmann (1848-1905), known for his ivory sculptures and portrait plaquettes of contemporary celebrities, and Stefan Schwartz (1851-1924), who exhibited in Paris, including the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he won a gold medal. Kauba's intricate bronzes, imported to the United States between 1895 and 1912, were cast at the Roman Bronze Works. Kauba was part of the nineteenth-century tradition of polychrome bronze sculpture. There were several types of patinas on a single statue: he could render the color of buckskin, variously tinted shirts, blankets, feathers, as well as beaded moccasins. Reportedly, Kauba came to America around 1886. Inspired by the Western tales of German author Karl May, he traveled to the West and made sketches and models. Critics, however, pointed out inaccuracies of costume and other details. For instance, the guns that his "mid-nineteenth-century" figures use are models produced after 1898. Apparently he did all of his works back in Vienna. Besides the variety of color, Kauba's bronzes show a great range of textures and his style is highly naturalistic. The sculptor loved ornament, some of which he rendered with coiled wire for reins, rope and feathers in headdresses. He successfully rendered figures in motion and often executed compositions with more than one figure. Berman (1974) illustrates non-Western subjects by Kaula, such as the pendants Where? and There (ca. 1910), a seated Scottish couple, impressive in the expressions and the details on patterned fabrics of both sitters. Another genre piece is Buster Brown...

Ernest Trova "The Encounter" 1994 Chrome Plated Steel Approx 24 x 26 x 24 inches Edition 1/8 Known for his Falling Man series in abstract figural sculpture, he created hard-edge ima...

"La Cothurne" 1901 Gilt Bronze Approx 21.5" High (to raised hand) Signed and Dated Foundry Mark "Susse Freres" Originally modeled in white biscuit porcelain this Greek dancer is a from a set of eight created for a dining table. They were immediately successful when they were exhibited in the Sevres pavilion at the 1900 Exhibition. Individual figures could be ordered and "La Cothurne" proved the most popular. Their success led to the firm of Susse buying the right to cast versions in metal. Agathon Leonard (1841-1923) is one of the well-known French Art Nouveau sculptors. Born in Lille in 1841, he first studied there before moving to Paris where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Eugene Delaplanche. He gained recognition at the annual Expositiones Universelles, winning a Silver Medal there in 1889 and gold in 1900. His most important piece, Jeu L'echarpe, was the best known series of Sevres production at the turn of the century and sold out at the 1900 Expo in Paris and later was given as a gift by the French Gov't to Nicholas II at the Hermitage. His bronzes were cast at the Susse Freres Editeurs Foundry. He worked also in marble, quartz and ivory. He also produced Art Nouveau medallions...

Hans Guradze (German, 1861-1922) "Jockey On Horseback" Bronze Approx. 19.5 x 17 x 6 inches Signed "H. Guradze Berlin" on Base