SMALL, 19th-CENTURY FRENCH BRONZE FIGURES

Small, 19^th-century French bronze figures are represented by only a few, albeit particularly high-quality objects in the Neue Pinakothek. In addition to large-format sculptures by Thorvaldsen and Canova, as well as by Rodin and Maillol, works of art by Antoine Louis Barye, Camille Claudel, Jules Dalou and others reveal a unique masterly skill on a small scale. Subtle in gesture and movement and with a markedly exquisite surface patination, small bronze figures were especially suited for private connoisseurs. The eight works exhibited on the ground floor of the Alte Pinakothek exemplify the wealth of styles to be found in small objects, ranging from the Neo-Baroque eclecticism of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Carpeaux’ ‘Freezing Figure’ to the expressive realism of Rodin’s ‘Man with the Broken Nose’.