René LETOURNEUR (1898-1990) - Lot 57

René LETOURNEUR (1898-1990) L'Aurore ou L'Aube Model of 1950 Studio plaster Signed (on back) : LETOURNEUR 112 x 85 x 80 cm René Letourneur prepared L'Aurore with various studies (see cat. nos. 53, 54, 55) before carving it directly from a block of Euville stone (Inv. FNAC 7318). Commissioned by the State in 1949, the work was delivered in December 1950. In 1951, the artist was commissioned to create its counterpart, Le Crépuscule (see cat. no. 61), which was completed and delivered in February 1953 (Inv. FNAC 7491). Both sculptures, entrusted to the town of Sceaux since the early 1950s, are now installed in its large departmental park. As was his wont, René Letourneur molded the stone for L'Aube: a plaster cast soon joined a private collection. The work appeared at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in 1959. In 2005, bronze proof n°1/8 was exhibited in Union Square, New York, and entered the collection of the New-York Film Academy. Bibliography : 2009 EXHIBITION, p. 55, no. 33, repr. (pierre d'Euville) and p. 220.