Lot 632: SÉRAPHIN NIKOLAEVICH SOUDBININE, 1870-1944

SÉRAPHIN NIKOLAEVICH SOUDBININE, 1870-1944 MONSTERS inscribed with Latin signature S.Soudbinine and Alexis Rudier, Paris foundry mark bronze, dark brown patina 13.5 by 12cm, 5 1/4 by 4 5/8 in.

The sculptor S. N. Soudbinine lived and worked in Paris at the start of the twentieth century, and was one of Auguste Rodin's favourite students. He worked in the plastic arts, carried out portrait commissions and sculptural compositions on both secular and religious themes. He worked with various materials and genres, using bronze, marble, and wood. Following an order from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St Petersburg, he created the following works: statuettes of T. Karsavina, A. Pavlova, and L. Sobinov, and for the Sèvres manufactory busts of A. Pavlova and L. Sobinov. In the last years of his life Soudbinine carried out experiments with ceramics at the Sèvres manufactory and was one of the founders of the new stylistic direction in Art Deco ceramics.

In the cycle of works devoted to fantastical monsters, Soudbinine's interest in Eastern art first becomes apparent, an interest which becomes a fundamental aspect in the works of his later period. The figures of the two monsters appear to be a kind of fantasy combination of popular Eastern characters. This work is distinguished by its particular expressiveness and dynamism, the artist striving to convey in bronze the movement of the two monsters' bodies, which merge together as if to create a whole. The work embodies a certain emotional mood, characteristic of the many symbolist artists who variously expressed the decadent mood in their works.

The series of sculptures which represents monsters and demons is uncharacteristic of Soudbinine's works, and was created by Soudbinine in his Parisian workshop at 65, Boulevard Arago, in 1906. The sculptures were cast in singular examples in the foundary of Alexis Rudier, and first presented to the public at the Autumn Salon in Paris in 1906. These works were exhibited with great success at the exhibition and a year later, were already presented at the 7υth Venice Biennale [La Biennale di Venezia. Le Esposizioni Internazionali – d'arte 1895–1999. Venezia, 1996. P. 72, 77]. These figures were not exhibited again during Soudbinine's lifetime, however, as immediately after the end of the exhibition, the compositions Sleeping Monsters (bronze) and Terrible Monsters (bronze) [Settima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia: Catalogo. Venezia, 1907. ed. IV] were sold into private collections. In 2008, the bronze composition Sleeping Monsters was acquired by the Musée d'Orsay [Inv.No. SRF 2008 3.].

In the sculpture, the artist conveys with great expressiveness the world view and world-feeling of his time. According to artistic judgement, this work corresponds to important examples of the French plastic arts school of the start of the twentieth century, and seems as if it is intended for the fashionable Parisian salons and interiors in the style moderne.