Lot 1370 Dα

Joseph Geefs

"The Young Fisherman and the Siren" by Joseph Geefs

Carrara marble, carved in the round. This piece is worked in the round but also displays a definite frontal viewpoint. It depicts a young fisherman clothed in a drapery sitting on a rock and gazing down at the siren who tries to lure him into the water. The piece is signed “Joseph Geefs” to the front of the plinth. It is listed in the cited literature as "Jeune pecheur qui se noie attiré par la sirène" and thought to have been made around 1874; surely Geefs has been inspired by the famous ballad by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "The fisherman" (1779). Geefs studied in Antwerp and returned there in 1841 following stays in Paris and Italy, becoming professor and director of the academy in the subsequent years and receiving numerous public and private commissions. This piece is an example of his later works, which increasingly incorporated elements of Romanticism.
In good overall condition. One finger of the siren's left hand partially lost, minor repairs to two further fingers. The rod is a loosely attached replacement in plaster. 85 x 77 x 52 cm.