Lot 618: A BRONZE BUST OF A LAUGHING BOY

A BRONZE BUST OF A LAUGHING BOY
CAST BY LASTELE FROM THE MODEL BY PAUL MAXIMILIEN LANDOWSKI (1875-1961), FIRST HALF 20TH CENTURY
The back inscribed Paul Landowski and stamped 3, under the shoulder the foundry mark LASTELE
27.5 cm. high; 42.5 cm. high overall

Paul Landowski's name became world-renowned for his monumental works. After the statue of Sun Yat-Sen for his mausoleum in the Purple Mountains near Nanjing, sculpted in 1928 at the request of the Kuomintang executive committee, Landowski was commissioned to create what is no doubt his most famous work, Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue in Rio de Janeiro, at the request of Brazil and Silva Costa, the author of the architectural structure.