bronze in motion, denmark 1883

collection.smk.dk  The Royal Collection of Paintings and Sculptures CC0 1.0
Danish sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (1863-1945) was twenty when she modeled this bronze Cat with a Rat (1883).  She'd been sculpting animals since the age of 12, when she started with a pet lamb; in her youth a veterinarian friend gave her animal carcasses so she could study musculature.  This is a rough sketch of a cat, getting the feel of its volume and movement, not forgetting the tipped-back ears of a feline still in the exciting throes of the hunt.
Nielsen became one of Denmark's most prominent sculptors, studied in Paris, and was the first Danish woman to be awarded the commission for an equestrian monument (a memorial statue for King Christian IX of Denmark).  The National Museum of Women in the Arts has an excellent pair of blog posts on her life - here's Part I and Part II.

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