Hey everyone! Back at it again with another blog! We have exciting news to start the year off right, our next antique and fine art auction is January 6, 2022, so mark your calendars! Since I’m in a bright and cheery mood, I wanted to lighten things up a little bit by discussing the sheer beauty of animalier bronze sculptures. Sculptures modeled from living non-human creatures possess an unmistakable life like dynamic, as if they were captured and frozen in time. Whether it was a bird soaring through the sky or a bucking bronco, the quality and time animal artists put into their craft is tremendous and truly inspiring. As opposed to rigid or posed humanoid sculptures, animal sculptures have a sense of wild freedom and energy that is uniquely theirs. In our next upcoming auction in January, we have four great bronze sculptures by two prolific modern animalier sculptures. We have a squawking wood duck with painted features in muted jewel tones and a preening pintail duck with long tail feathers by William H. Turner. Turner and his son, David Turner, opened a foundry together in Virginia and still create fantastic depictions of waterfowl, farm animals, dogs, cats, and numerous other wonderful animals. Two of their works are housed in the MacArthur Center in Norfolk, Virginia commissioned by A. Alfred Taubman with other works housed at the Museum of the Marine and the American Revolutionary Museum. While Turner keeps with a more classical approach to the portrayal of animals, J. Shirly Bothum enters the realm of the whimsical and the colorful. Bothum was a cowboy with a penchant for art, he was a part of the Rodeo Cowboy Association and by the 1970’s he began his sculpting career using ranch and horse related subject matter. One work that we have coming up is this large green painted mountain bronze titled “Rocky Mountain High” with mountain goats decorating the surface. Another of his upcoming works titled “Valley of the Dahls” depicts three dall sheep standing on a rocky ledge, each animal with their own unique personality. Although each artist has a different approach when it comes to creating their works, they each breathe life into these still inanimate objects. If you need to spice up your home or swanky summer cabin, make sure to check out these great pieces!
