CARRIER-BELLEUSE, Albert-Ernest (1824 Anizy-le-Château – 1887 Sèvres)

Portrait bust of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven

Terracotta, painted dark brown-reddish, with a black wooden pedestal. Inscribed “A. Carrier Belleuse.” H 42.5 cm. 8.15 kg.

Bust of a man with disheveled hair, an open shirt collar, and a fur stole crossed over his chest. Glaze partially chipped, significant chips on the collar and garment, base slightly chipped and cracked.

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse: French sculptor and draftsman; studied under Pierre Jean David d’Angers at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris beginning in 1840; from the 1850s onward, he created works in marble, bronze sculptures, and terracotta busts; he was known as the “Clodion of the Second Empire” (Claude Michel Clodion, 1738–1814), In 1864, he became friends with the young sculptor Auguste Rodin; from 1875 to 1887, he served as artistic director and head of the studio at the Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres in Sèvres.

Provenance: Peter Kaus museum collection.