Lot 265: A FRENCH MARBLE GROUP ENTITLED 'LA MORT D'ALCESTE' (THE DEATH OF ALCESTIS), ON OAK PEDESTAL

A FRENCH MARBLE GROUP ENTITLED 'LA MORT D'ALCESTE' (THE DEATH OF ALCESTIS), ON OAK PEDESTAL BY ANDRÉ-JOSEPH ALLAR (1845-1926), PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY Signed 'A. ALLAR', on rotating oak pedestal The marble: 28 in. (71 cm.) high; 21 ¾ in. (55.5 cm.) wide; 26 ¼ in. (66.5 cm.) deep The pedestal: 37 ¼ in. (94.5 cm.) high; 32 ¾ in. (83 cm.) wide; 25 ½ in. (65 cm.) deep

(71 cm.) high; 21 ¾ in. (55.5 cm.) wide; 26 ¼ in. (66.5 cm.) deep

19TH CENTURY

M. Jules Jaluzot; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 27 November 1905, lot 41.

Steeped in the traditions of antiquity, this finely carved marble by French sculptor, André Joseph Allar represents the death of Alcestis as recounted by Euripides, in which the former agrees to die for her spouse in a final act of matrimonial devotion. The dramatic positioning of Alcestis as she slips into the next world is offset by the strained expressions of her weeping children – a tragic scene worthy of the Athenian tragedian’s dramatic pose, and fully evocative of the intellectually fashionable vein of neoclassical sculpture of late 19th century France. The iconography for the present group is drawn from Euripides’ play, Alcestis, a text which gave way to various theatrical productions in the eighteenth century, but which is infrequently represented in the French artistic tradition of the late 19th century. The present group depicts the scene in which Alcestis offers to take her husband, Admetus’ place in death and bids farewell to her children, conferring them to her spouse. This tragic death is brought about because Admetus forgets to make a sacrifice to Artemis, resulting in the inundation of their bridal chamber with snakes. The sun god Apollo then advises Admetus to appease Artemis by arranging with the Fates that someone die in his stead to pardon his fault, later finding that only his wife is capable of doing so. The present group is a reduction of a full-scale marble Allar showed at the Salon of 1881 (no. 3570), purchased by the French state, today in the collections of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and currently on display in the town of Lisieux, in Northern France (RF 3871, LUX 3). This marble had been proceeded by a plaster version shown at the Salon of 1879, of which the whereabouts are unknown. The full-scale marble received a warm reception when presented at the Salon. In his review of the exhibition Lafenestre suggested that the work placed Allar among the finest sculptors of his era: 'Ce beau groupe lui parut joindre plus complètement à la puissance d’expression dramatique qui remue les âmes la perfection rythmique des formes qui enchante les yeux. M. Allar, par cette œuvre supérieure, où la sincérité de l’ émotion personnelle anime une science profonde puisée aux plus saines traditions, a pris son rang définitif parmi les maîtres de notre école, à côté de MM. Guillaume, Paul Dubois, Chapu, Mercié’ (G. Lafenestre, Dix années du Salon de Peintre et de Sculpture 1879-1888, Paris, 1889, p. 33). While Allar drew directly from Euripides’ dramatic prose, he, no doubt, was also inspired by artists of antiquity. Indeed, in a contemporary review of the Salon of 1881, Henry Jouin suggests that the present marble is based on a celebrated Antique precedent, the marble figure of Agrippina (H. Jouin, La Sculpture Aux Salons de 1881, 1882, 1883 et à l’Exposition nationalde de 1883, Paris, 1884, p. 20.) The celebrated marble is today in the Capitoline Museum in and represents Agrippina seated in a klismos chair similar and enveloped in complex drapery similar to that of the present lot (illustrated F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New Haven, 1981, no. I, pp. 132-134). A picture by the 18th century French painter, Pierre Peyron of the same subject, commissioned for King Louis XVI in 1784, shown at the Salon of 1785 and today in the Louvre (INV. 7175) may also have proved a source of inspiration for Allar’s marble. In this large-scale canvas, Aclestis is depicted reclining in a pose similar to that of the present marble and surrounded by her children in a nearly identical arrangement. Though Peyron’s representation also includes Admetus and various attendants, its overarching antique influences could well have served as inspiration for the present group, especially because it remained in the possession of the French state in the 19th century, when it may have been viewed by Allar whilst a student in Paris. Born in Toulon, André Joseph Allar apprenticed to local sculptors and worked on some of the major construction projects ongoing in Marseille during his youth. He moved to Paris in 1863, where he apprenticed to some of the foremost neo-classical sculptors of the era including Pierre-Jules Cavallier, and won the Prix de Rome in 1869, two aspects of his formation that exerted a lasting influence on his later work and are manifest in the present lot. Allar showed regularly at the Salons and International Exhibitions of the era where he was decorated with several honours and ultimately became a member of the French Institute. The present marble was offered in a 1905 sale of the collections of Jules Jaluzot, the visionary businessman who founded of the Grand Magasin, Printemps, in Paris, and whose innovative spirit brought about many of the reforms which shaped the modern-day department store. His sale at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1905 included a fine collection of Old Master and contemporary pictures, sculpture, furniture and works of art, in which the present marble would, no doubt, have held pride of place.