Izards in the Glaciers (Pyrenean Chamois)
1810–75
Medium
Watercolor on wove paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 11/16 x 10 in. (19.6 x 25.4cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
29.100.592
Tags
Art Historical Context
Antoine-Louis Bary, a pioneering French sculptor of the Romantic era (1796–1875),fully captured the wild beauty of nature in *Izards in the Gliers (Pyreneanois)*, a delicate watercolor on wove paper his lifetime (1810–75). Best known for his dynamic bronze sculptures of animals—earning him the title "father of the animalier school"—Barye here showcases his prowess in two dimensions. The work depicts Pyrenean cham, agile mountain ungulates akin to deer or goats, navigating dramatic glacial landscapes of the Pyrenees, evoking the Romantic fascination with untamed wilderness and the sublime power...
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...