La Pêche (“Fishing”)
Alexandre Duchoiselle (1848-1886), French
Patinated bronze, signed Duchoiselle
Placed before the monumental hall mirror, is a 19th-century French bronze by Alexandre Duchoiselle, depicting an idealized Native American woman seated in a canoe, her classic drapery and romanticized Native American imagery reflecting the European fascination with the Americas during the nineteenth century.
Duchoiselle
The sculptor himself remains somewhat mysteriouse. Alexandre Duchoiselle worked in France during the second half of the nineteenth century and was involved with decorative sculpture for tow of Paris’s greatest monuments — the Louvre Palace and the Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opéra. Today, however, he is particularly remembered for bronzes such as this one.
Placed before the monumental hall mirror, the Frence bronze becomes part of the carefully composed Victorian entrance — a conspicuous expression of art, culture, and worldly taste intended to be noticed upon arrival.