19th & 20th Century Bronze Sculptures

Bronzes in Museum Colections

Museums have always acquired bronze sculptures for their collections.  Many major museum collections were purchased directly from the artists. In the United States both the Corcoran in Washington and the Walters in Baltimore purchased nearly complete editions encompassing over 120 bronzes cast by Antoine Louis Barye in the early 1870's directly from Barye himself. The Amon Carter museum in Fort Worth Texas purchased a complete edition of Charles Russell's bronzes. The Louvre has always purchased bronzes and has the most complete examples of most of the French artists, having dealt directly with the artists during their lifetime. Many of the museums who did not purchase bronzes from an artist during the artist's lifetime have had active acquisition programs in an attempt to assemble complete collections of an artist's sculptural works. As bronze sculpture has increased in importance the number of original edition casts to fill these needs have decreased proportionately.  It is a rare occurrence when a museum deaccessions bronze sculptures from their collections.  Once acquired they rarely come on the market again.

As an individual it is usually not posable to own the same items that are on display in the worlds major museums.  Because bronze sculptures were cast in editions it is posable for you to have in your home, works of art that are currently on display in the Louvre, the National Gallery, the Hermitage, and the other great museums of the world. This is an impossibility with any other art form. There is only one Irises by Van Gogh, one Blue Boy by Gainsborough, one Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, these works of art will never be offered to the public. It is possible for you to own and display an original edition cast of the Lion and Serpent, Pan et Ourson, or Tiger and Gaval, all of which are also on permanent display in the Louvre and many other museums.