Lot 71: PIERRE ROCHE

MARS VAINQUEUR (MARS VICTORIOUS)
signed and dated: PIERRE ROCHE 1897 and inscribed: Alexis.Rudier Fondeur Paris, with a white label on the underside printed with: P. NAVEZ \ EMBALLAGES DE TABLEAUX & OBJETS D'ART \ 76, Rue Blanche, 76 - PARIS and inscribed in black ink: Exposition de Buenos Aires \ Nυo 8 \ M Roche Pierre \ "Mars Vainqueur" and numbered in pencil: 287, one pink label numbered: 803 and a blue and white stamp with: D.B 840

84cm., 33in.

bronze, rich green and brown patina

'Charming, prolific, and something of a dreamer' was the characterisation of Pierre Roche when he was remembered in a retrospective exhibition at the Societé Nationale. Roche's talent was discovered by Dalou when he saw the young sculptor's design for the Danton monument. Dalou promptly invited him to join his workshop. There he developed the casting skills which he later put to use in his own designs. Later in his life Roche included ceramics, medal and printmaking in his repertoire, experimenting with unconventional techniques.

The present Mars Vainqueur is typical of Roche's oeuvre. It reveals the influence of Dalou in the treatment of the face and hair, but also has the Art Nouveau charm which became a hallmark of Roche's work. Roche depicts Mars not as the heroic brute of classical mythology but as a beautiful boy. The elegant lines of the bronze and the wonderful, deeply layered, green and brown patina, witness to Roche's mastery of composition and technique.

RELATED LITERATURE
P. Vitry, 'Pierre Roche (1855-1922)' in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1923, pp. 215-228