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The sculpture shows the head of a man with wavy hair, a full beard, and mustache. It is made of bronze, giving it a dark metallic color with a slight sheen. The details highlight the texture of the hair and beard intricately. The man's expression includes slightly furrowed brows and closed lips. The bust is on a rectangular base.
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The sculpture shows the head of a man with wavy hair, a full beard, and mustache. It is made of bronze, giving it a dark metallic color with a slight sheen. The details highlight the texture of the hair and beard intricately. The man's expression includes slightly furrowed brows and closed lips. The bust is on a rectangular base.

National Gallery of Art · Sculpture

Alphonse Legros

Aimé-Jules Dalou

Date
model c. 1876, cast possibly 1879/1920
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall: 34.1 x 23.7 x 23.7 cm (13 7/16 x 9 5/16 x 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
Sculpture · Bust
Accession number
1956.14.2
Credit line
Gift of George Matthew Adams in memory of his mother, Lydia Havens Adams
Time span
1876 to 1900
Department
CSD
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century
  • male
  • portrait
  • Realist
  • Legros, Alphonse
Provenance

(P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London); sold possibly by the 1920s and definitely by June 1932 to George Matthew Adams [1878-1962], Riverdale, New York;[1] gift 1956 to NGA. [1] See the letters from Adams to Harold Wright of Colnaghi, dated 8 June 1932 and 20 December 1946 (originals in the Wright Papers, MS Wright L259, Special Collections, University of Glasgow Library, Scotland; copies in NGA curatorial files). The Dalou bust complemented the five etchings by Legros for which Adams was best known as a collector, lent to the National Gallery at the same time as the bronze and given one by one from 1947 to 1963.

NGA object ID 43644. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.