Agathon Léonard 'Le Vampire' Sculpture
'Le Vampire' or 'La Chauve-Souris', is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau -- a superimposition of tangible suggestion upon implied ambiguity, a sensual embrace of the innate need for mystery within human impulse. Towering atop yet integral to the rock upon which poised, a beautiful young woman -- her movements chaste yet diabolic -- unfurls towards the sky the the veiled and bony wings that protect her nudity. With wildly flowing hair tumbling from elaborate Balkan headdress, her neck cased in pearls and her lower body barely protected by the heavy jeweled belt and star-embroidered robe that anchors her to the earth, 'Le Vampire' is neither human nor inhuman, neither from this earth nor beyond it, a transcendental yet lustful expression of femininity, obscurity, and melancholia.
Item #: YS-22070
Artist: Agathon Léonard
Country: France
Circa: 1903
Dimensions: 33" height, 22" width, 14" depth.
Materials: Gilt & Patinated Bronze
Signed: "Léonard 8 P"
Literature: M. Rheims, La Sculpture au XIX Siècle, Paris, 1972, p. 133, fig. 12; A. Duncan, Fin de Siècle Masterpieces from the Silverman Collection, New York, 1989, p. 176, fig. 87;
V. Arwas, Art Nouveau, the French Aesthetic, London, 2002, p. 246; Agathon Léonard, Le Geste Art Nouveau, exh. cat., 11 March - 9 June 2003, Roubaix, La Piscine - Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André - Diligent, pp. 78-79.
Item #: YS-22070
Artist: Agathon Léonard
Country: France
Circa: 1903
Dimensions: 33" height, 22" width, 14" depth.
Materials: Gilt & Patinated Bronze
Signed: "Léonard 8 P"
Literature: M. Rheims, La Sculpture au XIX Siècle, Paris, 1972, p. 133, fig. 12; A. Duncan, Fin de Siècle Masterpieces from the Silverman Collection, New York, 1989, p. 176, fig. 87;
V. Arwas, Art Nouveau, the French Aesthetic, London, 2002, p. 246; Agathon Léonard, Le Geste Art Nouveau, exh. cat., 11 March - 9 June 2003, Roubaix, La Piscine - Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André - Diligent, pp. 78-79.