Medium: marble
Dimensions: 43 1/4 x 28 x 35
Frame dimensions: 84 1/4 x 36 x 46
Notes:
Théodore-Charles Gruyère was born in Paris in 1814, the son of an ornamentalist, or decorator. In 1830 he attended Ecole des Beaux Arts, in 1836 he began studying with Augustin-Alexandre Dumont, and in 1837, at 23 years old, he opened his own Paris studio. One can speculate that such a coup at a young age may have been engineered by a doting father or a generous patron. Carrara marble, highly valued for its purity and used only for prestigious projects, was costly due to quarrying labor and transportation tariffs. On the face of it, Carrara marble is not a material used by fledgling sculptors. All that is known is that Gruyère was a prodigy with connections.
From his earliest years, Gruyère won accolades, beginning with the prestigious Prix de Rome award in 1839. This pivotal achievement brought him considerable notoriety and established his reputation as a skilled artist. Commissions followed, several for highly romanticized classical sculptures to adorn significant public spaces: the Palais de Louvre, l’Opera Garnier, l’Hotel de Ville de Paris, and le Gare du Nord. Gruyère also executed at least five commissions for churches in Paris, most notably the Église Saint-Augustin. In 1866 he was conferred with the title, Chevalier de la Legion d’Honeur.
Throughout his career, Gruyère created a diverse body of work that showcased his versatility as a sculptor. His oeuvre included busts, religious and secular sculptures, architectural sculptures, and bas-relief, ranging from small intimate pieces to large-scale public monuments. While not all of Gruyère’s works have survived wars, occupation, civil unrest, and the insults of time and urban pollution, a few endure.
Little is known about Gruyère’s dabbling with subjects outside the confines of classicism. Only “Seated Indian” remains. Its execution reflects Parisian society’s infatuation with the American Indian at the time, inspired in large part by the work of Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, a member of Prince Maximilian of Prussia’s 1832-34 expedition to what is now North Dakota and Montana. Bodmer’s paintings, illustrations, and prints first appeared in 1841 with the publication of his journal, Travels in the Interior of North America. Later, his Native American portraits were exhibited in Paris and other European capitals. His large body of work captured the everyday lives of the Hidatsa, Mandan, Sioux, Omaha, Assiniboine, and Piegan Blackfeet, many in ceremonial beads, lavish headdresses, and animal hides. Their facial expressions were alternately stern, noble, and tragic. In French salons, style-setters were drawn to the romance of life on the plains of North America.
By the late 18th century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau had popularized the concept of the “noble savage,” the uncivilized figure uncorrupted by Western civilization. As European nations were on the cusp of colonizing massive swathes of Africa, the literati did not look south but west for this ideal figure, applying Rousseau’s reasoning to the Plains Indians. This romanticized notion portrayed Native Americans as bold, noble, innocent, and free, a counterpoint to what some saw as the corrupting influences of modern civilization.
As the artistic stage was about to be filled by the works of George Catlin, Charles Bird King, as well as with the romantic novels of Karl May (who never left Germany), Théodore-Charles Gruyère attached his name and reputation to this Native American love story. This magnificent marble beautifully captures the introversion and romance of the American Indian through the European gaze of the time.
Although many questions about Seated Indian persist—the identity of Gruyère’s model, whether it was a commission, what sources he consulted to create such a masterwork—the abiding certainty is that Gruyere evoked the passion of his times. He framed a philosophical proposition into one handsome human, enshrining an ideal into a work of art that shall endure for the ages.
Private Collection, acquired from the above
Sotheby’s New York, American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, November 30, 2000, lot 129
From a Private Collection
Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody, WY, 2001-2006
