JOSEPH BERNARD (Vienna, 1866 - Paris, 1931). "Faun". Bronze. Exhibitions: "European sculpture of

JOSEPH BERNARD (Vienna, 1866 - Paris, 1931).
"Faun".
Bronze.
Exhibitions: "European sculpture in the 20th century", European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, 2014.
Signed.
Size: 72 cm.
In this sculpture Joseph Bernard represents a dancing faun. The work stands out for the movement and expressiveness that the author achieves through the twisted movement of the body and the expression. The work is remarkable for its delicacy and great detail, which shows the mastery of the sculptor, who, in spite of choosing a theme of mythical tradition, shows us an infinity of elements of great realism.
Joseph Bernard trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon from 1881 to 1886 and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1887 to 1890. In the early 1920s, Bernard became the "father" of the direct carving movement, which was then sweeping Europe and the United States. His early works were modelled in clay and influenced by Rodin, but from 1905 he began to sculpt directly in stone. Bernard exhibited at the Salon des Société des Artistes Français from 1892 to 1900, at the Salon des Société National des Beaux-Arts in 1901, and did not exhibit again until his solo exhibition at the Galerie A. A. Hébrard in 1901. A. Hébrard in 1908. His style had a profound influence on European sculpture in the 1920s. In 1914, Bernard held a major solo exhibition at the Galerie Les Arts in Paris, where he exhibited eighty sculptures. He exhibited numerous works, including "Jeune fille à la cruche" and variants and enlargements of his pre-war Dance Frieze (the original marble is in the Musée d'Orsay), at the great Exposition des Arts Décoratifs of 1925. This work marked the height of Bernard's fame and established him as one of the creators of the Art Deco style. After his death in 1931, he was given a major retrospective at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris in 1932. His work can be found in museums all over the world, notably in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, where several works are permanently exhibited alongside those of Maillol and Bourdelle.