Rupert Carabin “Grenouille” (Frog) Sculpture
This French Art Nouveau wooden sculpture, “Grenouille” (Frog), by Rupert Carabin, depicts a maiden with webbed feet entranced by a figure emerging from the pond. The sculpture was exhibited at the 1907 “Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts” salon to much acclaim for its thematic boldness and sensitive modeling. At the turn of the century, Europe’s artistic establishment coupled the thematic possibilities of sensuality in Greek myth with a renewed taste for meticulous naturalism. For the ancients, the pond was the setting for many a tale of ruinous desire. Whether the character’s love was of himself, as in Echo and Narcissus, or love of the same sex, as in Hyla and Hercules, the pond became a place for reflection on the psyche.
Item #: YS-22063
Artist: Rupert Carabin
Country: France
Circa: 1907
Dimensions: 11.5" height, 13.5" width, 9" depth.
Materials: Wood
Signed: R Carabin 1907
Literature: Pictured in: “L’oeuvre de Rupert Carabin 1862-1932,” by the Galerie du Luxembourg, 1974. p. 144.
Item #: YS-22063
Artist: Rupert Carabin
Country: France
Circa: 1907
Dimensions: 11.5" height, 13.5" width, 9" depth.
Materials: Wood
Signed: R Carabin 1907
Literature: Pictured in: “L’oeuvre de Rupert Carabin 1862-1932,” by the Galerie du Luxembourg, 1974. p. 144.
In 1896, J.W Waterhouse delighted the Royal academy with his seminal painting “Hylas and the Nymphs.” Waterhouse depicts seven nymphs holding out pearls to entice Hylas, one pulling at his clothing, another grasping his arm and wrist. The painting omits any allusion to Hylas’ relationship with Hercules, “sanitizing” the picture for the Victorian public’s prude sensibilities. In true avant-garde fashion, Carabin reverses the roles in this classic story. More akin to an erotic version of the Grimm’s brothers’ Frog prince, the gaze is now female as opposed to male. Unlike the half-exposed bodies of Waterhouse’s nymphs, only the top of the male figure’s head is exposed, his head covered by a lily pad. The meeting between the two is covert and suppressed, intensifying the passion of the encounter. Carabin’s erotic sculpture was the subject of much vitriol by the European far-right. Max Nordau lambasted Carabin’s work in his seminal work Degeneration, a book that would later inspire the Nazis in their “Degenerate Art” exhibitions and looting. Nordau described Carabin’s work as “feverish, infernal, and nightmarish.”
Inspired by the simultaneous crudity and polish of Japanese netsuke (wooden kimono ornaments), Carabin implemented the philosophy of itobori in his work. Ito meaning “one knife without stopping,” and bori meaning “to carve”, the mental concentration and effort required to cut a piece of wood into a beautiful object were associated with Zen meditation. Carabin’s carving is quick and direct, like a Japanese ink painting, the artist cannot afford one false stroke. The pond’s serpentine ripples radiate from the male figure, luring the viewer into the same hypnosis as the female figure. Opposed to the toothless decoration of his counterparts, Carabin was ingenious in both his technique and narrative. It was these characteristics that made Carabin a truly modern master.
In 1896, J.W Waterhouse delighted the Royal academy with his seminal painting “Hylas and the Nymphs.” Waterhouse depicts seven nymphs holding out pearls to entice Hylas, one pulling at his clothing, another grasping his arm and wrist. The painting omits any allusion to Hylas’ relationship with Hercules, “sanitizing” the picture for the Victorian public’s prude sensibilities. In true avant-garde fashion, Carabin reverses the roles in this classic story. More akin to an erotic version of the Grimm’s brothers’ Frog prince, the gaze is now female as opposed to male. Unlike the half-exposed bodies of Waterhouse’s nymphs, only the top of the male figure’s head is exposed, his head covered by a lily pad. The meeting between the two is covert and suppressed, intensifying the passion of the encounter. Carabin’s erotic sculpture was the subject of much vitriol by the European far-right. Max Nordau lambasted Carabin’s work in his seminal work Degeneration, a book that would later inspire the Nazis in their “Degenerate Art” exhibitions and looting. Nordau described Carabin’s work as “feverish, infernal, and nightmarish.”
Inspired by the simultaneous crudity and polish of Japanese netsuke (wooden kimono ornaments), Carabin implemented the philosophy of itobori in his work. Ito meaning “one knife without stopping,” and bori meaning “to carve”, the mental concentration and effort required to cut a piece of wood into a beautiful object were associated with Zen meditation. Carabin’s carving is quick and direct, like a Japanese ink painting, the artist cannot afford one false stroke. The pond’s serpentine ripples radiate from the male figure, luring the viewer into the same hypnosis as the female figure. Opposed to the toothless decoration of his counterparts, Carabin was ingenious in both his technique and narrative. It was these characteristics that made Carabin a truly modern master.
Related Content
Collecting At Home: Spotlight On Loïe Fuller
Join Ben Macklowe in a Macklowe Gallery series that educates and inspires—without ever leaving the comfort of your couch. Episode 3: Spotlight On Loïe Fuller In this episode, Macklowe Gallery's president, Ben Macklowe, focuses on Loïe Fuller, the famed American actress and dancer who was widely considered to be the embodiment of the Art Nouveau movement, most known...
