Lot 71: Maurice Roger Marx , French b. 1872 a mother bear grooming her cub bronze, dark brown patina

signed: R. M. MARX. and stamped: A PLANQUETTE CIRE PERDUE bronze, dark brown patina

measurements note 51cm., 20in.

The present bronze is a magnificent example of the animalier genre in sculpture. This genre had become hugely popular on both sides of the Channel in the second half of the 19υth Century, as artists followed Naturalist trends to describe and define animal types. The turn of the century saw a shift in focus so that the study of animal behaviour and its closeness to human behaviour became the central theme of both art and science. Here the bear's tender care of her cub is intended to evoke an empathetic response in the viewer.

Maurice Roger Marx was a pupil of Louis-Ernest Barrias and exhibited at the Salon from around 1900, winning a gold medal in 1921. His marble La Premier Dent is in the collection of the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris.

RELATED LITERATURE
Bénézit, vol. 9, p. 308