Stephan Abel Sinding (Norwegian, 1846-1922) Walkure (Brunhil...

Estimate

£1,500 - £2,500

Stephan Abel Sinding (Norwegian, 1846-1922)
Walkure (Brunhilda on Horseback)
Bronze with a rich dark brown and black patina
Signed Stephan Sinding Paris
Inscribed AD. GeseLsch. vorn. H Gladenbeck u. Sohn.

Dimensions:
31 in. (H) 

Sinding was a sculptor of international repute, a native of Norway whose lived in Berlin before he married a Danish woman and settled in Paris. The Walkure depicts the Wagnerian heroine Brunhilda sweeping down the mountain, speeding on her furious steed in fierce anticipation of battle below. Brochner recounts that Sinding took a studio halfway up the Boulevard de Raspail in Paris especially so he could study horses going downhill. He spent hours in observation until one day a Normandy stallion became restless outside his window. He seized the opportunity to sketch the bared teeth and peculiar expression that is the hallmark of this wild and wind swept creature.

Many of Sinding's works were bought by Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914), the son of the founder of Carlsberg Breweries, and can be found in the Carlsberg Glyptotek located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Valhalla Frieze, in Bavaria, Germany, commissioned to illustrate Norse mythology similarly depicts violent displays of energy including a panel of mounted female amazons.