Jean Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875): Why Born Enslaved, 1869

William M. Griswold, Director, The Cleveland Museum of Art

 

One of the great pleasures of working as a dealer is the journey one shares with an artwork. 

 

I discovered this plaster of Carpeaux’s famous composition Why Be Born a Slave as it was coming up for auction in Switzerland. I immediately sensed the sheer quality of the modelling and the richness of the surface from the pictures, but the arresting power of the piece is only truly revealed when you stand in front of it.

 

Once I acquired the work, technical analyses confirmed that its surface was the original one, made up by distinctive brown-red ochre tones that had been applied in the sculptor’s studio directly over the plaster. Further visual comparisons led to another important discovery: the scratches and marks on the cast matched those of the original model that was sold at the famous sale of Carpeaux’s studio contents in 1913, recorded in a photograph published in the sale catalogue. This and other telling clues indicated that this was the master model for numerous other casts in other museum collections.

 

I presented Carpeaux’s bust at Master Drawings New York in 2022, where it was acquired by The Cleveland Museum of Art. Two months later, Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This thought-provoking and challenging show raised a wealth of important questions about the historical context in which the model was created, as well as its reception, demonstrating the contemporary relevance of Carpeaux’s creation.