Pierre-Jean David, known as David d'Angers (1788-1856) - Lot 80

Pierre-Jean David, known as David d'Angers (1788-1856) The Benefits of Printing in America circa 1840 Bas-relief in patinated plaster Preparatory sketch for the pedestal of the Gutenberg Monument, Place Gutenberg, Strasbourg Size: 70 x 142 cm Provenance: Victor Pavie; by descent Estimate: €20,000 / €30,000 Comparative works : -David d'Angers, Monument à Gutenberg, 1840-1846, bronze, H. 331 cm, Place Gutenberg, Strasbourg ; -David d'Angers, Les Bienfaits de l'imprimerie en Amérique, 1840, plaster bas-relief, original model, signed P.J. DAVID D'ANGERS dim. 82 x 143 cm (in frame 97.4 x 159.2 x 19.3 cm), Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. MBA 842.10 ; -David d'Angers, Étude pour le bas-relief l'Amérique on paper, dim. 26 x 21 cm, Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. MBA 364.2.52 ; David d'Angers, Monument à Gutenberg, cast-iron replica, courtyard of the former Imprimerie Nationale buildings, Paris 15th arrondissement; -David d'Angers, Les Bienfaits de l'imprimerie en Amérique, terracotta bas-relief, dim. 37 x 58.1 x 7.5 cm, gift of Mme Leferme, daughter of David d'Angers to the State in 1903 for the Musée de Lille, Lille, Musée des beaux-arts, inv-74. Related literature: -Relation complète des Fêtes de Gutenberg: célébrées à Strasbourg, les 24, 25 et 26 juin 1840, 1841, Strasbourg, chez E Simon lithographe, imprimerie G. Silbermann, pp. 46-51 ; -H. Jouin, David d'Angers, sa vie, son oeuvre, ses écrits et ses contemporains, Paris, 1879, t. II, p. 512 ; - H. Jouin, David d'Angers et ses relations littéraires, Paris, Librairie Plon, 1890, p.125, 158, 162, 167, 170, 199, 200, 202, 215, 228, 262, and statuette 247, 252, 259, 260 ; - (ed.) F. Bergot David d'Angers (1788-1856), cat. exp. held in Paris, Hôtel de la Monnaie, June-September 1966 , Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1966, p. 41, ill. 43, no. 54 ; -V. Huchard, Galerie David d'Angers, Siraudeau et Cie, Angers 1989, p114 -J.- D. Draper, Lille Masterpieces from a major European museum, Cat. Exp. tenue à Paris Galeries nationales du Grand Palais 28 mars -3 juillet 1995, Paris, RMN, 1995, p.203-204 ; - M. P. Driskel, "Et la lumière fut": The Meanings of David d'Angers's Monument to Gutenberg, in The Art Bulletin, Sep., 1991, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Sep., 1991), pp. 359-380 ; - V. Huchard,: Aux Grands Hommes, David d'Angers , Catalogue of the Exhibition held in Angers from September 12 to November 11, 1990, Fondation de Coubertin, Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, 1990,. This large plaster bas-relief by the leading light of Romantic sculpture, David d'Angers, was part of the creative process for the Monument in honor of Johannes Gutenberg, which occupied his time between 1835 and 1842. In Europe, Mainz and Strasbourg vie for primacy in the discovery of printing. In 1837, Mainz commissioned the famous Danish neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to erect a monument in honor of Gutenberg, while Strasbourg commissioned David D'Angers, who had just distinguished himself with the Pantheon in Paris (1834-1837), to create a monument in 1835. At his own expense, the artist created the models for the statue and the four bas-reliefs on the pedestal, illustrating the benefits of printing on all four continents. A staunch Republican, the sculptor found in the design of this monument a means of expressing his political ideas. However, a public subscription paid for the bronze version of the work: the impressive statue (331 cm high) of the German genius holding in his hand his famous Bible, on which is inscribed the phrase "And there was Light" (Genesis 1:3), was erected opposite the north tower of the majestic Alsatian cathedral. The location chosen by the printer Gustave Silbermann, the instigator of the committee to build the monument and a fervent republican, was highly symbolic, as was the inscription that accompanies the figure of the humanist: "Et la Lumière fut" ("And there was light"). They are a direct reference to the scene from Victor Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris, in which Frollo, conversing with two scholars, points to a book on the one hand, and to the cathedral on the other, while uttering "this will kill that": the printed press (symbol of Democracy) ousts the Church (Theocracy). The bronze figure of the illustrious man took its place for the great secular festival organized over three days, from June 24 to 26, 1840, offering David D'Angers a means of expressing his ideas in opposition to the July monarchy and its September laws, which had re-established Censorship. Fig.1. Emile Simon, Fêtes de Gutenberg à Strasbourg : Inauguration de la statue de Gutenberg, le 24 juin 1840, engraving On May 31, 1840, the sculptor sent a letter to his friend