Lot 445: A small bronze statuette 'Phryne'

Reinhold Begas Berlin 1831 - Berlin 1911 , A small bronze statuette 'Phryne', Berlin, after 1868. Bronze with reddish brown patina, overall h. 26 cm, dark marble base (h. 4 cm), verso sign. 'R. Begas fec', foundary stamp 'Guss Gladenbeck & Sohn'., The most important representative sculptor of neo-baroque Wilhelmian. First apprenticeship by L. Widmann, following Berliner Kunstakademie by G. Schadow and Chr. D. Rauch. 1856-58 stay in Rome, friendship to F. von Lenbach, A. Feuerbach und A. Böcklin. Inspired by worky of Bernini and Michelangelo. After his return to Berlin he received a numerous orders for bis sculptures in Berlin. His main work is the 1886 Neptune fountain, designed for the Berlin City Palace.

Bernhard Maaz (Hg.): Nationalgalerie Berlin. Das 19. Jahrhundert. Bestandskatalog der Skulpturen, vol. 1, 2006, p. 73-74, cat. no. 80.