Lot 251: François Léon Sicard, French (1862-1934) A gilt bronze figural group of Oedipus and the Sphinx

Oedipus with right arm raised, trampling the Sphinx below, on a rocky base signed SICARD and stamped F.BARBEDIENNE Fondeur, 68.5cm high (26.5" high)

After winning the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1891 Sicard studied under the sculptor Louis Ernest Barrias. Sicard's work was strongly influenced by his master and the ideals of the Romantic movement; and this is apparent in the present group. The attention to surface detail, finely modelled drapery and expressive features that characterize the present piece are also visible in Barrias's work. Sicard enjoyed numerous state commissions and various examples of his works were put on public display, for example 'La Nuit' a stone work for the facade of the Grand Palais. He exhibited the patinated bronze version of the present piece at the Salon of 1903, now in the Musée d'Orsay.

Another gilt bronze example also cast by Barbedienne was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 14 April 2008, lot 11 ($34,000).

Literature:
Pierre Kjellberg, Les Bronzes du XIXe Siecle, Paris, 1987.