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ARTHUR STRASSER ( AUSTRIAN 1854/1927 ) SONGHAÏ WARRIOR BUST IN PATINATED BRONZE ON MARBLE BASE WITH CARTOUCHE ON THE BASE " NÈGRE DU TOMBOUCTOU PAR STRASSER / CACHET ON THE UNDERSIDE MEDAILLE DES BEAUX ARTS ( PARIS )
size : 37 cm high x 28 cm wide x 13 cm deep
In 1892, Austrian sculptor Arthur Strasser finally realized his dream of traveling to Egypt to discover the reality of an Orient that had always fascinated him. This journey, undertaken in the company of his friend, the painter Charles Wilda, provided him with the forms and motifs that would form the basis of his work, both graphic and plastic. He set out to illustrate the small trades of the street, and the different populations living together in the country, sometimes as a result of slavery. With this exotic production, Strasser met with great success in Vienna, with the Habsburg imperial family acquiring his works to decorate the interiors of their palaces. The Timbuktu Negro, the model for this bronze with its brown patina, could have been one of them.
Ref: K4R03V5BIV