FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON (1830-1896)
'THE SLUGGARD'
£9,450
Auction: Lots 1 to 336 | 16th October at 10am
Description
bronze, dark brown patina, signed LORD LEIGHTON and titled THE SLUGGARD, this cast circa 1910-20.
Dimensions
53cm high
Provenance
Provenance: Alan Boyle (Antique Dealer), Brighton, 1970
The Peter Rose and Albert Gallichan Collection
Footnote
Literature: Frederic Leighton: 1830-1896, Harry N. Abrams/Royal Academy 1996, pp. 202-203, fig. 93
Read B. Leighton as a sculptor: Releasing sculpture from convention, Apollo, London, February 1996, pp. 65-69.
Note: The Sluggard by Frederic Leighton, created in 1885-1886, is a pivotal piece in the New Sculpture movement, which emphasised naturalism and a departure from the rigidity of earlier Victorian art. The sculpture portrays a young male nude stretching lazily, capturing a moment of languid awakening. The work was inspired by a spontaneous gesture of Leighton’s model, Giuseppe Valona, who stretched and yawned during a modelling session, prompting Leighton to immediately sketch the pose in clay.
Initially titled An Athlete Awakening from Sleeping, the piece was later renamed The Sluggard to emphasize its relaxed, almost indolent posture, contrasting with Leighton's earlier, more dynamic work, An Athlete Wrestling with a Python. The sculpture was widely acclaimed and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1886, earning further recognition at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889, where it was awarded a medal of honour.
The influence of contemporary French sculptors, particularly the naturalism of Rodin, is evident in this work. The Sluggard remains one of Leighton’s most celebrated sculptures, symbolising a significant shift towards more expressive and realistic forms in late 19th-century British art.