Lyme Academy to Open Exhibit of 19th- and Early 20th-Century French Bronzes March 20

OLD LYME, CT – Lyme Academy of Fine Arts will unveil a new exhibition next week featuring 50 highlights from more than 230 small French bronze sculptures collected by the late chemist and philanthropist Karlheinz Kronberger.

The New Bronze Age: Masterpieces of 19th- and Early 20th-Century Sculpture from the Karlheinz Kronberger Collection will be on view in the academy’s Chauncey Stillman Gallery from March 20 to May 17. The exhibit coincides with the academy’s 50th anniversary year.

Many of the works were created by pouring molten bronze — an alloy of copper, tin and sometimes zinc — into molds, a process that allowed detailed sculptures to be produced for a growing middle-class market. The academy in a news release described the bronzes as among the finest examples of the art form, crediting the caliber of artists and the quality of the bronze foundries where they were created. 

The collection was gifted to the academy in 2022 with sculptures from artists including Rosa Bonheur, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Aimé-Jules Dalou, Paul DuBois, Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière, Emmanuel Frémiet, Antonin Mercié and Emmanuel Villanis. Renowned French bronze foundries Siot-Decauville and Barbedienne are represented. 

Numerous examples of bronze sculptures by influential 19th century French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme are featured.

Principal art historian and exhibition curator Emily Weeks, Ph.D., said bronze sculptures were among the most popular art forms in France when the pieces in Kronberger’s collection were created. 

“Produced in a range of sizes and finishes, these works allowed a new class of collectors – the middle class – to introduce luxury and culture into their homes,” Weeks said. 

The Gallery is free to the public Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors may park and enter the gallery at the South Entrance, 84 Lyme Street. 

More information about the exhibition is available at lymeacademy.edu.