Updated 15 May 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
The Neapolitan Fisherboy
| Date | 1857-58 (model) |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 90 x 46 x 53 |
| Inscriptions | Signed and dated right back top of base: J. B. CARPEAUX. / 1857. ROME.; Foundry mark left back top of base: Fdu par Vor THIEBAUT |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1982-0001 |
Carpeaux began to study in Rome in 1856 and the following year he created The Neapolitan Fisherboy as his assignment piece in Rome to send to Paris. Carpeaux noted the following in a letter addressed to a friend. "The subject of my work is taken from nature. This delightful 11-year-old fisherboy smiles as he strains to hear the sound of the shell he holds to his ear." In contrast to the heroic subjects taken from mythology and history, one of the earliest examples of this type of sculpture addressing genre subjects can be seen in 19th century France in a work by Carpeaux's teacher, Rude. This work was his 1831 salon piece Young Neapolitan Fisherboy Playing with Turtle. "The first experiment in showing a figure as a human body before our very eyes" this study of a small boy by Rude which has been called the beginning of modern sculpture. It also exerted a tremendous influence on the works of Carpeaux. In this sculpture of a young boy by Carpeaux, the tensely modeled form and its lively detailed modeling outdistances that of his teacher. Here his cohesive forms show the spirit of naturalism handed down from his teacher and Carpeaux's own understanding of the freshly liveliness and the classical sense of the forms of Italian nature and art.According to the work's provenance, this bronze is known as the second casting that received the prix d'honneur in the 1861 Metz Exhibition.(Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.124)
Provenance
Adolphe Patoux, maire d'aniche, 1861; Léonie Adolphe Patoux; Maxime Adolphe Emile d'Hennin; Renée Maria Rémiette d'Hennin; Auc., Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 16 Dec. 1980; Bruton Gallery, Bruton, Somerset, Purchased by the NMWA, 1982.
Exhibition History
- 1861
- La Grande Exposition de Metz, 0 1861 - 0 0
- 1981
- Carrier-Belleuse and His Circle―Origins and Influence, Bruton Gallery, 0 1981 - 0 1982, E 19
- 1997
- Resonating Love and Life: European Art from National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka, 12 April 1997 - 18 May 1997, cat. no. 34
- 2021
- National Touring Exhibition of Western Art from the NMWA: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata / Western Art in Takaoka, Yamagata Museum of Art, 17 July 2021 - 27 August 2021, Takaoka Art Museum, 10 September-24 October 2021, cat. no. Y1_13 | T1_16
Bibliography
- 1861
- Mouvement des Arts et de la Curiosité. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. vol.11, 1861, p.383.
- 1971
- Nineteenth Century French Sculpture―Monuments for the Middle Class (exh. cat.). J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, 1971, p.64.
- 1980
- The Romantics to Rodin (exh. cat.). Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980, p.145.
- 1981
- French Sculpture 1780-1940 (exh. cat.). Bruton Gallery, 1981, E 19.
- 1984
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 17 (1982), 1984, Hasegawa, Saburou. On the New Acquisitions 1982. pp. 6-8, Catalogue of the New Acquisition 1982. pp. 16-17, repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 124, repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 124, repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 126, col. repr.
- 2021
- When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 34, 174, cat. no. Y1_13 | T1_16, col. repr.