Lot 81: Thomas Waldo Story , American 1855-1915 A PAIR OF BAS RELIEFS of PARIS AND HELEN AND the HORSE RACE IN THE ISTHMIAN GAMES white marble in wood frames

Horse Race signed and dated: WALDO STORY / ROME 1881 Paris and Helen: WALDO STORY / ROME 1882 white marble in wood frames

measurements note paris and helen marble relief : 56 by 149cm., 22 by 58 5/8 in. frame: 89 by 185cm., 35 by 72¾in. horse race marble relief: 56 by 139cm., 22 by 54¾in. frame: 89cm by 191cm., 35 by 75¼in.

Thomas Waldo Story; by direct family descent

Though born in Italy, Thomas Waldo Story was of American heritage; his father was the distinguished neoclassical sculptor William Wetmore Story. Waldo Story attended Eton and Oxford and mingled with expatriate artists living and practicing in Rome around his father, and they introduced him to an impressive group of British aristocratic patrons, including the Marlboroughs at Blenheim, Lord Durham at Lambton Castle and the Astors at Cliveden. Like his good friend James Abbott MacNeill Whistler, Story was often commissioned by his wealthy patrons to create complete decorative programs for grand homes. In particular, Story's work for Lord Rothschild's Tring billiard room reflects the demand for panels very similar to the present pair of friezes of Paris and Helen and Horse Race in the Isthmian Games.

Whilst the present pair are not associated with the Tring group, they are very similar in classical subject and spirit, as evidenced by their shallow carved, well-modelled figures assembled in a rhythmic composition with decorative elements of billowing scarves, tossed floral wreaths, and flowing hair. Paris and Helen and Horse Race in the Isthmian Games are inspired by the riders, soldiers, chariots and allegorical maidens from ancient sites. The artist especially prized these models, which he submitted to the Grosvenor Gallery exhibition of 1882 in another version, sold by Sotheby's New York, 25υth April, 2006. The present pair he kept in his own collection. Story was deeply influenced by Rome and its rich history, which he encountered every day as he stepped out of his studio. Story also found inspiration among such fellow artists Albert Moore and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and with his circle of friends including Whistler, Oscar Wilde and other proponents of aestheticism. Wilde wrote to Story that Whistler "spoke of your art with more enthusiasm that I have ever heard him speak of any modern work," while reviews explained Story's "work is full of the inspiration and suggestion of Italy... And so, too, Rome, the Rome of the last rich lingering of the Renaissance, and the Rome that we see to-day....in the end one is led back again and again to the classic; the true rest to eye and mind, the inexhaustible well-spring of beauty".

RELATED LITERATURE
Phillips, p. 137