Lot 40: Henri Crenier (1873-1948)

Henri Crenier (1873-1948)
'Boy and Turtle'
inscribed 'H Crenier' (on the base)--inscribed 'ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-' (along the base)
bronze with greenish-brown patina
19¼ in. (48.9 cm.) high
Modeled in 1912.

T. Tolles, ed., American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1865 and 1885, vol. 2, New York, 2001, pp. 566-67, another example illustrated.

Private collection, New Jersey, circa 1990.

Property from a Private New Jersey Collection

The present work depicts the artist's older son Pierre, then twelve years old, posing for his father with a box underneath his raised foot. This placement allowed the artist to convey the spontaneity of the positioning while getting an accurate depiction of the figure. Although this model was originally conceived as a study for a larger garden fountain, the positive response to the casting of this size when it was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1912-13 led the artist to deem the work complete. It was not until 1923 that a life-size cast of the present sculpture was rendered and installed in Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland with funding from The Municipal Art Society of Baltimore. Another example of the present work is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.