Mathurin Moreau (1822-1912) The Return of the Swallows

Bronze with brown patina, signed “Math. Moreau. ainé” on the base.
Cast during the artist's lifetime with the foundry stamp "Susse frères".
Circa 1890

Dimensions:
Height 62 cm
Width 29 cm
Depth 29 cm

Description
Bronze allegory of love with brown patina on a rotating griotte marble base, depicting a nymph seated on a rock surrounded by swallows.
Our beautiful late 19th-century Art Nouveau bronze study is signed “Math.Moreau.ainé” on the base and bears the stamp of the famous 19th-century foundry, Susse frères.

Mathurin Moreau was a French sculptor who worked in the traditional 19th-century academic style. Born in Dijon, France, on November 18, 1822, he was the son of the renowned sculptor Jean Baptiste Moreau. In 1841, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the following year won the second Grand Prix de Rome with his sculpture Diodème enlevant le palladium. Several of his works are still on public display in Paris, including Cologne on the façade of the Gare du Nord, Oceania in the courtyard of the Musée d'Orsay, and Zénobe Gramme in the Père Lachaise cemetery. In 1897, he received a medal of honor from the Paris Salon and was elected mayor of the 19th arrondissement of Paris, a position he held until his death on February 14, 1912.