Lot 7178
Leopold Harze (Belgian, 1831-1893), Marinette & Gros-Rene (Two Works)
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
11 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/4 in.
Private Collection, Roanoke, Virginia
Leopold Harze was a Belgian figural sculptor working primarily in terracotta, with some models cast in bronze. His was well regarded for capturing a superb sense of naturalism, charismatic expression, and detail in his preferred subject of genre scenes.
The third of the twelve children born to gunsmith Jean-Jacques Harzé (1800-1881) and his wife Charlotte Hubert (1806-1893), Leopold from youth was a keen observer, and began with carving figures from various mediums to the delight of his school mates. At age fourteen, Léopold was accepted at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Liège where he studied for nine years. It was in the streets and market of Liège where he would find his creative impulse, capturing the daily life he witnessed.
In 1859, an exhibition of his work was held in Liège which was reported in the Journal des Beaux-Arts. “This exhibition,” the reviewer wrote, “consists of a series of terra cotta groups and figurines reproducing with great clarity, sometimes finesse, always liveliness, the types, trades, games and failings of the popular class of this province.”
In 1864 Léopold Harzé moved from Liège to Brussels, and his breakthrough came with the eight terracotta tableaux works he submitted for the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle. Each composition was wonderfully modeled showcasing the artist's talent for capturing narrative and humor. In 1879 Harzé was awarded the Order of Leopold, the oldest and highest order in Belgium.
Both with dent to the terrace edge and rubbing to the patina; else good condition.
