Jeune panthère, c.1934
Bronze with a dark brown patina, Valsuani lost wax original edition, signed "P. Jouve", and stamped "c Valsuani"
37 x 30.50 cm
History:
The animal that served as a model for this sculpture is one of the two panthers that Jouve adopted in the early 1930s. Baptized Toumba and Marraghem, they were raised by the artist, who enjoyed walking them around his villa in Le Tholonet near Aix-en-Provence or around his Parisian studio on rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. However, Jouve could not keep the grown-up animals with him and he had to give them to Cirque Médrano where they ended their lives. These two companions frequently served as models for graphic works and paintings and the artist also made a sculpture of each of them. Toumba first, was immortalized by a lost wax bronze printed in only three copies (not numbered) by the founder Rudier from 1932.
Around 1934, Jouve created the sculpture of Marraghem. It was published from 1935 until the end of the 1950s by the Valsuani foundryman, the lost wax prints (not numbered) were made according to the artist's orders. Only seven copies were made and the one we present is one of them. The Godard foundry then prints two numbered artist's proofs, one of which is now in the collections of the Musée des Années Trente in Boulogne Billancourt (EA 1/2). The treatment of this sculpture perfectly reflects Marraghem's fragility, the treatment of the coat also gives it the appearance of some Assyrian bronzes.
Provenance :
Purchased from the artist, transmitted by descent.
Private collection.
Bibliography:
Félix Marcilhac, Paul Jouve peintre sculpteur animalier, Les éditions de l’Amateur, 2005, another copy is illustrated in full page on p. 202 and mentionned in the sculptures' inventory in the same book on p. 349 (illustrated).
Exhibitions :
Paul Jouve, Hôtel du Logis du Roy, Amiens, 29 June - 7 July 1935, illustrated number 40 in the exhibition's catalogue
Paul Jouve, Musée de la France d'outre-mer, Paris, 16 April - 8 May 1955, ref number 1 (sculpture section).
Paul Jouve, Cercle Volney, 7, rue Volney, Paris, 13 December 1955 - 5 January 1956, ref number 1 (sculpture section).
Collections:
Musée des années 30, Musée municipal de Boulogne-Billancourt, another copy is in the museum's permanent collection.
Certificate of authenticity established by Mr. Dominique Suisse.