Bear Fleeing from Dogs
model n.d., cast after 1870 by 1873
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall: 35.56 × 45.09 × 25.4 cm (14 × 17 3/4 × 10 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase)
Accession Number
2015.19.3859
Art Historical Context
Antoine-Louis Barye *Bear Fleeing from*, a dynamic bronze sculpture cast after 1870 from an undated model, captures the raw intensity of the animal kingdom. Measuring 14 × 17¾ × 10 inches, this work depicts a powerful bear in mid-escape, pursued by snarling hounds—a scene brimming with tension and motion. Barye, a leading 19th-century French sculptor and pioneer of the *animalier* genre, in naturalistic renderings of wildlife, blending Romantic drama with meticulous anatomical precision. Renowned for his bronze masterpieces, Barye revolutionized animal sculpture by drawing directly from live ...
About the Artist
Antoine-Louis Barye · 1795–1875
Antoine-Louis Barye (1795–1875) was born in Paris on September 24, the son of goldsmith Pierre Barye and Marguerite Barye. Following family tradition, he apprenticed as a goldsmith under his father and, around 1810, with Martin-Guillaume Biennais, goldsmith to Napoleon. After brief military service, Barye pursued sculpture, studying under François-Joseph Bosio in 1816 and painter Baron Antoine-Jea...