Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824 - 1887)
FRENCH
L' AMOUR SE CONFIE À L' AMITIÉ (Love confiding in friendship) c. 1860
signed A. Carrier
bronze, rich dark brown patina
height of sculpture, 28 1/2 in.
height with clock, 36 1/2 in.
Literature
J. Hargrove, p.38, fig.2
A founding member of the Société de Beaux Arts and mentor for Aguste Rodin, Albert-Ernest Carrier Belleuse is considered among the greatest sculptors of the nineteenth-century. And, this work was key in helping Carrier achieve his reputation.
In 1848, Carrier-Belleuse debuted at the Paris Salon. This success drew the attention of the Minton factory in England, where he worked as the head sculptor designer from 1850 to 1855. Carrier returned to France with his “second debut” at the Salon in 1857, where he showed L’Amour et L’Amitié — later titled L’amour se Connie à l’Amitié — to critical acclaim:
“The bronze group l’Amour et l’Amitié, is a charming small poem written with verve and without faults. In each of execution and grace of composition, Carrier is the descendant of Clodion and the sculptors of Louis XV; but even more then that school, Carrier has science and style . . . it a supple, fertile, and learned work; without dogmatism, seriousness with grace; easily understood by the masses, appreciated by those with good taste, and, above all, thoroughly modern and French, who have perhaps not yet had such a talent to represent them.”
(Source: Philippe Burty. “Salon de 1857,” Le Moniteur de la Mode (Paris: Adolphe Goubaud, 1857.), 471.)
The sculpture and the clock were manufactured by Deniere. The firm of Deniere et Matelin was established at the end of the eighteenth century at 58 rue de Turenne.
