catalog text
JEAN-MARIE CAMUS
French, 1877-1955
"Pan et Nymphe"
Verde patinated bronze | Signed in cast "jean CAMUS", "cire original" with foundry cachet "cire purdue BISCEGLIA"
Item # 109OMY24L
A rich Art Nouveau model of kneeling Pan playing his siku for the young nymphe deep in sleep upon his lap, her legs and body comfortably resting on a bed of soft grass. The model is finished in an exquisite verde and black surface patina with a wonderful overall luster, silky to the touch and preserved under wax. It was cast by the foundry of Mario Bisceglia and is sealed and signed in the lower right corner; the signature for Camus is captured directly from the original mold and the surface of the lost-wax model appears to be free of any cold-tooling. It remains preserved in pristine original condition.
Born in Turin, Italy in 1879, Mario Bisceglia was employed at the Speratidi foundry starting in around 1898 before moving to Paris at some point between 1904 and 1906 upon the suggestion of sculptors Henri Bouchard and Paul Landowski where he opened his foundry in 1907 with his two brothers. It was located at 30 rue des Grands-Champs and specialized in casting using the lost-wax method. They operated at that address from 1912, but seem to have paused operations until after the First World War; reputedly he moved his company to his final premises at 19 rue Perrot, Malakoff during the end of the 1920s, though official records of that address do not appear until 1933. César Bisceglia handled most aspects of the casting and chasing process, Mario Bisceglia specialized in the painterly patinas the firm became well-known for and Dominique Bisceglia handled management and accounting of the firm. Mario and César died in 1961 and in 1962 the premises were sold to Émile Godard; a fire thereafter destroyed all remaining molds left by Bisceglia.
ARTIST
Born on November 12th of 1877 in Clermont-Ferrand, Jean-Marie Camus studied under Louis Barnas and Jules Coutan at the École des beaux-arts in Paris. Camus exhibited at the Paris Salon des Artistes Français from 1900 and was awarded an hors concours gold medal in 1931. In 1908 he exhibited at the Salon des artistes coloniaux. The museum of Clermont-Ferrand owns a bronze model of his Groupe d'enfants en classe (1903) as well as a bronze bust of Fréderic Cohendy (1904). Later he was made a Chevalier in the Légion d'Honneur. He died on June 15th of 1955.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- Dictionary of Art Bronze Founders, France, 1890-1950 (English Translation), Élisabeth Lebon, 2003, p. 63-64
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. III, Gründ, 2006, p. 291
- Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century, A Dictionary of Sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, 1994, p. 169
Measurements: 16" H x 7 3/4" D [base] x 23 3/8" W [base] (25" W at widest points)
Condition Report:
Exceptional original condition, no flaws noted.