Offered by Galerie Latham
"Cire perdue" bronze cast by Pastori, Geneva,
"Adorer of life and movement" which he liked to see "enclosed in a form
stable”, the sculptor Robert Hainard (1906-1999) is undoubtedly one of
of the most famous Swiss animal artists of the 20th century. Also wood engraver and painter, he was a naturalist and great connoisseur of wildlife European, publishing numerous works on nature and wildlife.
Very committed, pioneer of the environmentalist movement, he participated in 1928 in the creation of the Association for the creation and maintenance of nature reserves in the canton of Geneva (currently Pro Natura Genève). Passionate the “wild and free” animal, Robert Hainard knew how to track it down, through drawing and then
through sculpture, the most lively and expressive attitudes. He worked “from memory”, from direct observation in nature, looking at the beast, the drawing afterwards, with the greatest fidelity to the sensations felt before the animal. Also faithful to the representation, quite conservative and suspicious of others of the avant-gardes, he had the desire “to be immediately sensory on the the most intractable thing to our rational and technical society, that is to say the wild beast that lives outside of our systems, and ultimately pass everything this through the channel of a very thought-out, very intentional, very artisanal art...". (Bibliographical reference: Robert Hainard. Sculptures. Editions Hesse, 1993,
p. 22 and pp. 100-101).
The Large Heather Rooster (Ht. 59.5 cm) that I am offering for sale
today is one of the most impressive bronze sculptures he has
carried out. First carved in wood in 1964, it was then cast in bronze
(Pastori foundry in Carouge), with a beautiful brown patina with green reflections, for a “lost wax” print, which means a very small number of copies produced. According to a letter from Robert Hainard dated February 3, 1966 (Archives Fondation Hainard), this bronze would only have been produced in five copies (three already drawn at the date of the letter, two others in draft). This forest bird Great Heather Rooster / Robert Hainard Page 2 high mountains, also called great male grouse, is difficult to approach by the man. Populations of this species have declined significantly over the during the 20th century. (This beautiful bird has disappeared from the Alps, becoming rare in the Jura – around 300 specimens recorded – but it maintains itself better in Pyrenees, with around 6000 individuals). Robert Hainard represents his Grand Rooster in parade, tail feathers widely fanned, wings hanging, beard bristling and neck straightened.
