The Man of Affairs (L'homme d'affaires)

model probably after 1860, cast around June 1951

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 19.5 x 6.8 x 7 cm (7 11/16 x 2 11/16 x 2 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1953.8.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Maurice Gobin, Paris), c. 1950-1956;[1] (Henri M. Petiet, Paris); sold December 1952 to Lessing Julius Rosenwald, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania;[2] gift 1953 to NGA.
[1] In 1952 Maurice Gobin first introduced and discussed a group of terracotta figurines; see Maurice Gobin, Daumier Sculpteur. 1808-1879, Geneva, 1952. They were cast in bronze, and Lessing Rosenwald acquired ten different bronzes from the group. Correspondence in the Rosenwald Papers, NGA Archives, suggests that the casting project was initiated and supervised by Gobin himself simultaneously with the publication of his book, and that he also seems to have masterminded their distribution and price. For Gobin's role, see Henri M. Petiet, letters of 27 April 1956, 16 July and 11 December 1957, to Elizabeth Mongan; and Mongan, letter of 20 December 1957, to Petiet (Rosenwald Papers, NGA Archives, Box 69 [1956], and Box 74 [1957].
[2] The dealer Henri Petiet received the bronzes as soon as they were serialized, which was in pairs, and offered most of them to Mr. Rosenwald, allegedly as they were released to the public. The first pair (NGA 1953.8.1 and .2) were serialized and released around June 1951, and purchased December 1952. See Petiet, letters of 18 May and 25 June 1951 to Elizabeth Mongan, and a list titled "Alverthorpe--Daumier. Bronzes purchased" [from H.M. Petiet, Paris], dated June 1959; Rosenwald Papers, NGA Archives, Box 48 [1951], Box 82 [list].

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1960

  • Honoré Daumier, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960, no cat.

1969

  • Daumier Sculpture: A Critical and Comparative Study, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969, no. 53b, repro., as L'Homme d'Affaires (The Businessman).

Bibliography

1952

  • Gobin, Maurice. Daumier Sculpteur, 1808-1879. Geneva, 1952: no. 40.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 150, as by Daumier.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 133, repro., as by Daumier.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 62, repro.

2000

  • Butler, Ruth, and Suzanne Glover Lindsay, with Alison Luchs, Douglas Lewis, Cynthia J. Mills, and Jeffrey Weidman. European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 206-212, color repro.

Inscriptions

falsely signed, incised on self-base in the model and enhanced after casting: h.D.; stamped on exterior rim of base: BRONZE; on underside: 6/30

Markings

FM: Valsuani

Wikidata ID

Q63809612

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