Javanese Panther

1922–25

Not on view

Hernandez, a self-taught Spanish sculptor, spent his adult life in Paris. His work is distinguished by his method of taille directe, carving directly from a block of stone without the aid of a maquette or any other preparatory aid. Animals were his preferred subject, and he invariably found his models at the Paris zoo. “Day after day he would study them,” noted a Met curator in 1936, “or, shouldering a block of granite or diorite, set it up before a cage and slowly fashion it into the likeness of the living model before him.” This sculpture was displayed in front of the Spanish pavilion at the 1925 Paris exposition; it was later acquired by the American collectors Mr. and Mrs. Joseph John Kerrigan (Esther Slater Kerrigan), who in turn gave it to The Met.

Artwork Details

Title: Javanese Panther
Artist: Mateo Hernandez (Spanish, 1885–1949)
Date: 1922–25
Medium: Diorite
Dimensions: 31 1/2 × 72 3/4 × 10 3/4 in. (80 × 184.8 × 27.3 cm)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph John Kerrigan, 1935
Object Number: 35.144
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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