René LETOURNEUR (1898-1990) - Lot 8

René LETOURNEUR (1898-1990) Male torso: Orpheus 1930 Black patina bronze, n°2/8 Lost-wax casting Coubertin 2009 Copyright, dating, signature, numbering and founder's stamp (on back of terrace): © 1930 LETOURNEUR 2/8 44 x 20.5 x 15 cm The Orpheus modeled by the artist measures some sixty centimeters (it was not produced in bronze). From this figure, René Letourneur produced a male torso: Orphée, removing the head, arms and lower legs. This torso was produced in bronze, and proof no. 2 is shown here. The complete 60-centimeter Orpheus served as a model for a larger-than-life work in stone. But he broke the stone with a blow from a sledgehammer on the nape of the neck, leaving only the Torso (now on display at the Museo Fiermontina in Lecce). For the muscular body of his Orpheus, René Letourneur chose a body-building model, who also posed for the Discobolus at the Théâtre de Suresnes (1934). Bibliography : 2009 EXPOSITION, p.31, no. 14 (repr. stone).