Francesco Messina Art

Antique Bronze Dog Sculpture Chihuahua "La Petite Belle Lydie" Charles Valton (French, 1851-1918) Circa 15 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 7 Lydie is a Chihuahua making her a very rare image from ...

Bill Starke's "The Seeker" is a limited edition (AP 3/6), bronze sculpture created by Bill Starke depicting a contemplative male figure holding a rope with 3 climbers ascending to th...

Life size child on life size tortoise. Combination of young child's imagination and reality.

Antique Horse Bronze Portrait of a Trotting Stallion Isidore Jules Bonheur (France, 1827-1901) Cast bronze mounted on a rectangular plinth with dark brown patina, Signed: I. BONHEUR 17 x 11 3/4 A brilliant exploration of a stallion in full trot. The patina is a deep, warm walnut brown with honey-colored tones. Isidore Bonheur was best known and the most distinguished of the 19th century French animalier sculptors. Isidore, the younger brother of Rosa Bonheur and older brother of Auguste, began his studies of painting initially with his father, who was friends with Francisco Goya. By 1848 he debuted at the Paris Salon having discontinued animal and landscape painting to concentrate on creating sculptures and in 1849, Bonheur enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He won medals at the Paris Salon in 1859 and did so again in 1865 and in 1869. After entering the Exposition Universelle 1855, he won the Gold Medal in 1889. In the 1870s exhibited in the London at the Royal Academy of Arts where he earned great prestige and won the coveted Medaille d’Or. After winning numerous other medals and prizes, Bonheur was awarded the Legion d' Honneur in 1895 and he was Knighted in Portugal, Spain and France. Bonheur continued exhibiting at the Paris Salon until 1899. Many of his bronzes were fabricated at the foundry owned by Hippolyte Peyrol, Bonheur's brother-in-law by marriage to Isidore’s youngest sister Juliette Bonheur. The Peyrol casts for both Rosa and Isidore are exceptionally well executed which suggests a strong working relationship between the founder and sculptor. There is little doubt that Isidore Bonheur was an acute observer of nature; his animals were not anthropomorphized but modelled to catch movement or posture characteristics of the particular species he was sculpting. He achieved this most successfully with his sculptures of horses which are usually depicted as relaxed rather than spirited. These figures are among his most renowned works and his equestrian models became very popular, particularly among the British aristocracy. An acute observer of nature, his sculptures reflect his commitment to the Realist school - with precise detailing of the movements of animals in their natural habitats. Ultimately, His naturalistic studies of animals are now some of the most highly sought after works by any of the animalier. He was possibly inspired by his many visits to the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show...

Bill Starke's "The Seeker" is a limited edition (#3/50), bronze sculpture created by Bill Starke depicting a male figure peering beneath him through a small opening. About the art...

The author admires the beauty of the female body. Her movement - smooth, graceful and beautiful. The moment of awakening is very sensual. The girl stretches, revealing the beauty of her young body. Realistic manner shows her original beauty. Sculpture shapes create a play of light and shadow, curves, polished and brushed metal. The work is made of bronze- polish and patina. This sculpture was created in the early period of Alex Radionov...

Impressive Bronze Relief by Käthe Kollwitz ( 1867-1945, Germany ). Created 1938 in memory of her friend Ernst Barlach. Bronze brown patinated. On the left side signed: Kollwitz. He...

A limited edition bronze on a black marble base. From the limited edition of 8. Signed 1/8 Paula Blackman has been a bronze sculptor for 30 years working in Cleveland Ohio. Ms. Blac...

The male figure lies atop a cresting wavelike column, seemingly elevated by the experience. One hand is nearly touching his heart while the other hand is held open in a gesture of re...

ALFRED STEVENS (1817-1875) Judith Bronze 22 cm., 8 ¾ in. high Provenance: Handley-Read Collection; Fine Art Society, London, 1979; Collection of Peter Rose and Albert Gallichan. ...

Has been in artist's private collection. Maquette hunting dog with training dummy.

A nineteenth-century cast of Antoine-Louis Barye's Le cheval demi-sang arabe (no. A125-Poletti; A148-Pivar), with nice patina. Poletti and Richarme, Barye: Catalogue raisonné des sc...