Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
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Pierre Dubreuil – Éléphantaisie (1908). Photo, acquired in 2009 by The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. |
Pierre Dubreuil's [1872-1944] photograph depicts Emmanuel Frémiet's [1824-1910] life-size bronze sculpture of a young elephant caught in a trap (Éléphant pris au piège). Originally commissioned for the Paris World Fair (Exposition Universelle), in 1878, the piece stood on a pedestal in front of the original Trocadero Palace, as part of a tetraptych, comprising a horse, a bull, and a rhinoceros. The sculptures were moved to the Paris Musée d’Orsay's front court, in 1986, when the museum was inaugurated.*
Dubreuil's photograph, using a telephoto lens, foregrounds the Éléphant pris au piège statue against the Eiffel Tower. The photograph engulfs the viewer in horror before the pain of a gentle giant, trapped by the cruel cupidity of cunning predators.
Note
The Frémiet sculptures are currently being renovated as part of a larger museum-access remodeling project. The Frémiet sculptures, including the trapped elephant, are scheduled to return to the Paris Musée d'Orsay's front court at the end of 2027.
References
Pierre Dubreuil's Éléphantaisie (1908) – De Young Museum/Legion of Honor - The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Mais où partent les statues du parvis du Musée d'Orsay? [Now, where are the statues of the Orsay Museum?] - Musée d'Orsay.
