Lot 241: RUDOLPH CHRISTOPHER PUGGARD TEGNER (DANISH, 1873-1950)

inscribed Rudolph Tegner 1918 tie de-der har smadet mig, bears plaque stamped HERCULE TUANT L'HYDRE DE LERNE. bronze, dark brown patina. Together with a custom built base. 2 pieces. Executed 1918 Tegner figures prominently in the symbolist movement in Europe at the turn of the 20th century. His home in Copenhagen is now a museum of his work containing over 300 examples. He was honored at the Paris Exhibition of 1900 with a bronze metal. The current lot draws on his interest in classical mythology and demonstrates his masterly stylization of the human figure. The plaster version of this group was exhibited at the Paris Salon des Artistes Français in 1927, no. 3587. According to Greek mythology, Hercules was the hero who personified physical strength and courage. In this depiction of one of his twelve labors, he has triumphed over adversity with the slaying of the multi-headed water snake that ravaged the country of Lerna, near Argos. Provenance Galerie Alain Lesieutre, Paris Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Sotheby's, New York, The Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Collection, May 26, 1994, sale 6575, lot 144 Literature "Le Salon," Art et Décoration, June 1931, page I, for an illustration of the plaster version