About this artwork
Augustus Saint-Gaudens modeled a series of low-relief portraits of his artist friends in Paris, including this depiction of painter Jules Bastien-Lepage. The sculptor playfully featured a palette and brushes yet concealed most of the sitter’s hands—which are so important to an artist’s act of making. This shallow relief sculpture was made by the newly developed process of electrotyping. Electrically charged metals and metal alloys (here copper and bronze) adhered to a mold of the original clay sculpture at the particle level, creating a thin—yet faithful—copy. Saint-Gaudens is the earliest known American artist to invest in the technique, ordering electrotypes of two of his works from the Magee Furnace Company.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 161
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Sculptor)
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Title
- Jules Bastien-Lepage
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Place
- Paris (Object made in)
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Date
- Modeled 1880
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Medium
- Copper with bronze patina
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Inscriptions
- Inscribed across top: "[I] VLES BASTIEN LEPAGE AETATIS XXXI PARIS MDCCCLXXX AVGVSTVS / SAINT-GAVDENS FECIT"
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Dimensions
- 37.2 × 27 cm (14 5/8 × 10 5/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Sara Hallowell
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Reference Number
- 1908.83
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/63171/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
