Lot 824 | Alfred Raum | Centaur with Bow

RAUM, ALFRED
Berlin 1872 - 1935

Title: Centaur with Bow.
Technique: Bronze, dark brown patinated.
Height: 69cm.
Notation: Inscribed on the plinth: A. Raum.
Foundry Mark: At the plinth edge stamp: Bernhardt's Berlin.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

The German sculptor Paul Alfred Raum is especially known for his antique-like small sculptures. The artist studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin at the turn of the century. His striking talent earned him the Academy's Grand State Prize in the spring of 1902 and a scholarship that enabled him to spend a year in the art metropolis of Rome. Here Raum studied the antique sculptures in the original. The stay in Rome and the study of classical-antique sculpture had a truly lasting influence on his entire oeuvre. The present sculpture "Centaur" also belongs to this canon of antique reception. It captivates through the contrasting intersection of a horizontal and vertical line in its composition. The result of this skilful asymmetrical arrangement is a downright powerful dynamic, accompanied by athletic elegance. Raum shows us a centaur who has just fired his arrow at something unknown to us. The human upper body of the demi-being is tense up to the smallest muscle. Iron concentration speaks from his posture and the head turned towards the sky, vigilantly pursuing the target. Although the shot has already been fired, no moment of relaxation is perceptible. On the contrary: his animal lower body stands firmly anchored on the ground. The rear hooves stabilise the athletic demi-being. The sculpture, composed for all-round visibility, gives the viewer recurring new perspectives of the hunting centaur and invites us to pause and explore the exciting motif.