Antoine-Louis Barye (24 September 1795 – 25 June 1875) was a Romantic French sculptor most famous for his work as an animalier, a sculptor of animals. His son and student was the known sculptor Alfred Barye.
Born in Paris, France, Barye began his career as a goldsmith, like many sculptors of the Romantic Period. He first worked under his father Pierre, and around 1810 worked under the sculptor Guillaume-Mertin Biennais, who was a goldsmith to Napoleon. After studying under sculptor Francois-Joseph Bosio in 1816, and painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, he was in 1818 admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts. But it was not until 1823, while working for the goldsmith Emile Fauconnier that he discovered his true predilection from watching the animals in the Jardin des Plantes, making vigorous studies of them in pencil drawings comparable to those of Delacroix, then modeling them in sculpture on a large or small scale. Reference: Wikipedia
Antoine-Louis Barye Makers Mark
Mississippi Bear 1836 Lithograph Antoine-Louis Barye
Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This bronze statuette of a standing bear was modelled by the celebrated French animal sculptor, painter and printmaker Antoine-Louis Barye.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (FRENCH, 1795-1875) Ours assis (Reclining bear) signed BARYE, the underside with black ink numbers 160/271/2050 and paper inventory label numbered in red ink 1986 bronze, dark-brown/red patina with touches of verdigris 5½ in. (14 cm.) high
Sold for USD 19,120 at Christie’s in 2003