About the Artwork
Barye was a keen observer of the natural behavior of animals. Here he treats the romantic subject of a struggle to the death in the animal kingdom. In startling anatomical detail, he portrays the victor and the vanquished not only as an allegory of life and death but as an accurate rendition of exotic animals and their behavior. This is the original plaster exhibited by Barye in Paris in 1831 that launched his reputation.
Tiger Devouring a Gavial
1831
Antoine Louis Barye
1796-1875
French
Unknown
Plaster with polychrome and patinated decoration
Overall: 16 7/8 × 41 3/4 × 16 1/2 inches (42.9 × 106 × 41.9 cm)
Sculpture
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Horace E. Dodge Memorial Fund and Eleanor Clay Ford Fund
1983.11
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
Signed and dated, on base, front center: Barye 1831
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Provenance
1831, Charles Devieur Robelin
Madame Maurice Guillemot
private collection(s), France. (Chantal Kiener, Paris, France)
1983-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Hubert, G. "Barye et la critique de son temps." La Revue des Arts 4, December 1956, pp. 223-230.
Benge, Glenn. The Sculpture of Antoine-Louis Barye in American Collections with a Catalogue Raisonné: Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts. New York and London, 1969, vol. 1, p. 33.
Horswell, Jane. Bronze Sculpture of "Les animaliers." Clopton, 1971, pp. 2, 66, 304.
Lami, Stanislas. Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'école français, vol. 1. Paris and Lichtenstein, 1914 and 1970, pp. 70, 74.
Mackay, James. The Animaliers. New York, 1973, p. 24.
Pivar, Stuart. The Barye Bronzes. Woodbridge, 1974, p. 13.
Paris salon de 1831. New York and London, 1978, no. 2177.
The Romantics to Rodin. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, et al. Los Angeles, 1980, no. 16, p. 126-128.
Benge, G.F. Antoine-Louis Bayre. University Park and London, 1984, pp. 31-34.
Darr, A.P. "European sculpture and decorative arts acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts 1978-87." The Burlington Magazine 130 (June 1988): p. 499 (fig. 112) (ill.).
Dell et al., T. The Dodge Collection of 18th Century French and English Art in the Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1996, Appendix II, p. 242 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Antoine Louis Barye, Tiger Devouring a Gavial, 1831, plaster with polychrome and patinated decoration. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Horace E. Dodge Memorial Fund and Eleanor Clay Ford Fund, 1983.11.
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