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Bronze; signed and dated ‘GB. Amendola’/ Londra 1879(?)’;
unique cast 43.5 cm the bust; 54.5 cm high overall
Provenance: probably commissioned by George Henschel between 1878-9;
the Jennmaur gallery, San Francisco, from whom acquired in 2022.
This vigorously modelled bust is a portrait of Sir George Henschel the German-born - though naturalised British - baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer, that became the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881 and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 1893. Signed and dated by Amendola in 1879, the portrait reveals various intertwined stories: firstly, of an exceptionally talented Neapolitan sculptor that moved to London in 1878 and who ended up being patronised - and much loved - by one of the greatest painters of late 19th century Britain, the Dutch-born émigré, Lawrence Alma-Tadema. It also tells the story of Henschel, a relatively unknown concert singer on the London circuit upon his arrival in London in 1877, but one that in less than a decade ascended to great musical heights, accolades and knighthoods.
Bronze; signed and dated ‘GB. Amendola’/ Londra 1879(?)’;
unique cast 43.5 cm the bust; 54.5 cm high overall
Provenance: probably commissioned by George Henschel between 1878-9;
the Jennmaur gallery, San Francisco, from whom acquired in 2022.
This vigorously modelled bust is a portrait of Sir George Henschel the German-born - though naturalised British - baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer, that became the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881 and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 1893. Signed and dated by Amendola in 1879, the portrait reveals various intertwined stories: firstly, of an exceptionally talented Neapolitan sculptor that moved to London in 1878 and who ended up being patronised - and much loved - by one of the greatest painters of late 19th century Britain, the Dutch-born émigré, Lawrence Alma-Tadema. It also tells the story of Henschel, a relatively unknown concert singer on the London circuit upon his arrival in London in 1877, but one that in less than a decade ascended to great musical heights, accolades and knighthoods.