More works by Edouard Lanteri (1848-1917)
This is a supplementary page to the note on Edouard Lanteri, to illustrate some more of his works.
This first picture, The Duet, is chosen as a particularly harmonious composition, perhaps a little sweet, reminding us perhaps of the works of the genre painter Marcus Stone. A clever work, with excellent drapery, and a touch of humour in the way that the girl on the right rather squashes her sister.
The Duet.
An example of Lanteri's male characters is Head of a Peasant, mentioned on the main Lanteri page - a powerful work, created in just a few hours as a demonstration piece for his students, and much noted in the contemporary literature.
Lanteri's Head of a Peasant.
This next work, The Mermaid and the Fisherman dates from just before the turn of the century, and suggests something of 'woman as femme fatale'. A rather similar composition entitled Hylas from some years later is to be found in Regents Park, by the sculptor Henry Pegram, and is shown on his page. (Lots more Victorian and Edwardian mermaids on this page.)
The Mermaid and the Fisherman.
As another example of a Lanteri nude, the lissome girl below is called The Wind - a remarkably modern piece, dating from shortly before the sculptor's death, but which could as easily be from a decade or three later - we may make a comparison with the slender figures of E. J. Clack - see this page.
The Wind.
Continuing the theme of allegory, our next two examples are of Lanteri statues to see in London, both very high up, and only to be seen therefore at an acute angle. That on the left is Ancient Architecture, the companion work to Sculpture on the tower of the V&A (see the main Lanteri page), a rather solid female with rather simple lines, as befits a statue which will only be viewed from such a long distance. To the right is Fame, one of the figures high up above the entrance of G. E. Street's Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. I confess that when I first saw this statue, I thought neither of 'Fame' nor of Lanteri. But in fact there is something of a similarity with the V&A figure shown, in the simple drapes and the rather solid figure. She has a sunburst behind her head, and carries a laurel wreath, which are appropriate for Fame, but what is the sheaf of leaves she holds in her other hand?
Ancient Architecture on the V&A, and Fame on the Royal Courts of Justice.
I wanted to include an example of something rather different in Lanteri's oeuvre, and this last picture, rather poor unfortunately, shows a tomb by him, I do not know where, with a charming figure of a veiled lady in mourning, below a portrait of the deceased.
Monument by Lanteri.