Lot 70: CHARLES ALBERT LOPEZ (1869-1906) The Sprinter inscribed ‘Lopez 1902’ and

CHARLES ALBERT LOPEZ (1869-1906) The Sprinter inscribed ‘Lopez 1902’ and ‘Copyrighted by / CHARLES A. LOPEZ. 1902.’ and stamped ‘CAST IN ONE PIECE BY / THE HENRY BONNARD BRONZE Co. / FOUNDERS. N.Y. 1902.’ (along the base) bronze with greenish-brown patina 17 1/4in high

Provenance Private collection, Southern United States. Acquired by the present owner from the above. Literature T. Tolles, ed., American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume II. A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1865 and 1885, New York, 2001, pp. 518-19, no. 231, another example illustrated. According to T. Tolles, The Sprinter, modeled in 1902, is a unique subject among Charles Albert Lopez’s sculptures as it is the only athletic figure the artist executed in bronze. Similarly, a work by Robert Tait McKenzie (1867-1938) was executed in the same year and of the same title, suggesting the subject of this athletic figure, a track runner posed in starting position before a race, was an enduring image of masculinity during the period. Likely as a result, a cast of Lopez’s The Sprinter was selected by the United States Navy to serve as a championship trophy awarded to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic fleets competing in track athletics.