Charles Raphael Peyre (1872-1949) French, "Bataille des Fleurs" Putti Bronze Sculpture. Title translates to "Battle of the Flowers," depicting three putti or cherubic children playing with freshly picked flowers. Original patina, attached to an oval variegated marble base. Signed on side of bronze bottom. 

Size: 19 x 17 1/2 x 12 in. 

Charles Raphaël Peyre was born in Paris on May 31st, 1872 and soon showed a love of sculpture, becoming a pupil of Falguière, Mercié, and Théophile Barrau all in his teens, who taught him to combine academic precision with poetic symbolism. He made his debut at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1893, receiving an honorable mention the following year, and after becoming a full member of the Salon in 1900 his growing recognition earned him a third-class medal in 1902 and a second-class medal as well as a travel grant in 1903. He traveled throughout Italy, France, and England, and his sculptures started to focus on idealized femininity, mythological reverie, and childhood innocence in a variety of materials, including gilded and patinated bronze, marble, alabaster, ivory, and plaster, often producing elegant salon-sized editions that still stand in cities throughout Europe today. From the 1910s onward his works showed the influence of the emerging Art Deco movement, while still possessing the key elements of Art Nouveau, but during World War I he began to withdraw from the artistic world, and produced no new works from the time of the Nazi Occupation onward. He died in relative obscurity on January 3rd, 1949, but his work has experienced a rediscovery and renewed appreciation since the beginning of the 21st Century. 

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