ID 1389991
Lot 102 | JEAN-BAPTISTE CARPEAUX (1827-1875), VERS 1850-1852
Estimate value
€ 20 000 – 30 000
Philoctète à Lemnos ou Achille blessé au talon par la flèche de Paris
esquisse en terre cuite, signée « JB CARPEAUX » sur la terrasse
H. 38 cm (15 in.)
Provenance
Vente Me Philippe Fournier, Rouen, 24 mars 1985, lot 89.
Literature
Bibliographie comparative :
A. Hardy, A. Braunwald, Peintures et sculptures de Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux au musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes, Valenciennes, 1978, pp. 38-39.
L. de Margerie, Carpeaux La fièvre créatrice, Paris, 1989, p. 23.
M. Poletti, Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, l’homme qui faisait danser les pierres, Paris, 2012, pp. 32-37.
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, cat. exp., Paris, Musée d’Orsay, 23 juin-28 septembre 2014, p. 32
J. David Draper, The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Yale, 2014, p. 42.
Further details
A TERRACOTTA FIGURE OF ‘PHILOCTETES AT LEMNOS’ OR ‘ACHILLES WOUNDED IN THE HEEL BY THE ARROW OF PARIS’, JEAN-BAPTISTE CARPEAUX, CIRCA 1850-1852
Sometimes referred to as Achilles Wounded in the Heel by Paris's Arrow or Philoctetes on Lemnos or Abandoning Himself to His Pain, the ambiguity surrounding our terracotta persists. Nevertheless, this work likely counts among the numerous sketches executed by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) during his arduous pursuit of the Grand Prix de Rome. It was only in 1854 that his sculpture depicting Hector and his son Astyanax secured him the coveted first place in this prestigious competition. Prior to this triumph, two of Carpeaux's submissions to the contest may be linked to our work: it could be a sketch created around 1850 for his Wounded Achilles, which earned him an honorable mention in the sketch contest for the Grand Prix, or a sketch made in 1852 for his Philoctetes, which, to his great dismay, garnered only the Second Grand Prix, albeit with accompanying praise.
Although the pathos and attire of this figure could correspond to either the theme of Achille or Philoctetes, the presence of the shield suggests it is more likely a representation of the famous character from the Iliad. Indeed, Philoctetes is typically associated with a bow and arrows, while Achilles is often depicted with the shield forged by Hephaestus. However, in a letter dated March 9, 1852, to Louis Dutouquet, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux describes elements of his Philoctetes that seem to evoke many characteristics of our work: "I felt my hero abandoning himself to pain, leaning on his bow and against a rock, his head turned towards the sky, [...] letting out sharp cries that fill the air with his laments."
Though the intended destination of this sketch is still unknown, it exemplifies Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's recurrent tendency to explore multiple iterations for the imposed themes of his Grand Prix submissions; notably for Philoctetes, for which he admitted to having restarted his figure ten times (Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ex. cat., Paris, Musée d’Orsay, June 23 - September 28, 2014, p. 32).
| Artist: | Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875) |
|---|---|
| Applied technique: | Pottery |
| Medium: | Ceramic, Terracotta |
| Genre: | Mythological painting |
| Auction house category: | Sculptures, Statues & Figures |
| Artist: | Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875) |
|---|---|
| Applied technique: | Pottery |
| Medium: | Ceramic, Terracotta |
| Genre: | Mythological painting |
| Auction house category: | Sculptures, Statues & Figures |
| Address of auction |
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