Rating and value of sculptures and bronzes by Henri Louis Levasseur

If you own a work by or after the artist Henri Louis Levasseur, and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will offer you their appraisal services.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with an accurate estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, should you wish to sell your work, we will direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of the artist Henri Louis Levasseur  

Henri Louis Levasseur was recognized during his lifetime. He belongs to the artistic vein of figurative sculptors at the frontier between the 19th and 20th centuries. His legacy therefore consists mainly of sculptures made from several types of material, especially bronze.

At present, the prices of his works are rising recurrently at auctioneers' gavels. His sculptures are prized above all by French and French buyers, and the price at which they sell on the art market ranges from €70 to €26,300, a considerable delta, which speaks volumes, however, about the value that can be attributed to Levasseur's works.

One of his marble sculptures, Petite sieste, sold for €26,330 in 2013, while it was estimated at between €25,000 and €37,600.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of the artist Henri Louis Levasseur

Henri Louis Levasseur is a French sculptor linked to the great tradition of decorative sculpture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work is situated between naturalistic realism and sculptural academicism, with no search for the avant-garde.

His production is aimed at a bourgeois and institutional public, in an assumed decorative context. His iconographic fields are animals and allegorical and decorative female figures, symbolic groups and secondary mythological subjects. His work is marked by a strong demand for autonomous animal subjects.

He carefully observes animal anatomy and faithfully depicts proportions, musculature and attitudes. There is no excessive dramatization, the animal is shown in a stable or controlled posture.

His compositions are balanced and legible, often centered. Postures are natural or slightly idealized. Silhouettes are clearly identifiable, designed for immediate reading.

Movement is suggested with restraint (walking, stopping and continuous tension). He rejects spectacular effects in favor of a calm nobility of posture. His style is naturalistic, without excessive hyper-realistic detail. Volumes are legible and forms full and structured.

The clear influence of 19th-century French animal sculpture (Barye, Cain, Frémiet) without formal radicalism. Bronze is the main material of his production, but he also uses plaster, porcelain and marble.

Casting is carried out by specialized commercial founders. Editions are sometimes unlimited, in keeping with the decorative customs of the time. The signature is generally carried on the base or integrated into the pedestal.

The surfaces are smooth to lightly modeled, and anatomical details are suggested without overloading. Modeling emphasizes the continuity of volumes. Patinas are traditional (dark brown, green) and designed to enhance the legibility of forms rather than to create an expressive effect.

The life of Henri Louis Levasseur

Henri Louis Levasseur (1853 - 1934) was born in France, in a context marked by the domination of academic sculpture and the rise of decorative sculpture for an expanding bourgeois market.

His artistic training was part of the French academic circuits of the second half of the 19th century. His training was based on drawing, modeling and the study of human and animal anatomy. He assimilated the classical codes of figurative sculpture.

He began his activity in the 1870s - 1880s, and began by producing models for publishing, in a context where sculpture was being widely disseminated in the form of bronzes and regules.

He developed a career essentially focused on decorative sculpture. He worked for a broad market, on the border between art sculpture and ornamental production. His work was distributed by specialized foundries and publishers, which explains the multiplicity of print runs.

His output was varied, and included allegorical figures, decorative subjects, decorative scenes and a few animal subjects. His activity was sustained during the Belle Époque and the interwar period.

He did not seek avant-garde recognition or formal innovation, and adhered to an artisanal and academic tradition, responding to a stable decorative demand. His work is designed to be reproducible and integrable into private interiors.

His recognition is essentially commercial and non-institutional. His presence is limited at official Salons compared to leading academic sculptors. He adapts his models to changing decorative tastes without any formal break.

Market segmentation and artist's rating

Henri Louis Levasseur is an artist who is very present at public sales (around 550 passages recorded). This high liquidity corresponds above all to a decorative edition production (statuettes) rather than a rare museum corpus.

Figures and allegories (young women, moral subjects) are a structuring segment, the most frequent in sales. Animal subjects constitute a minority segment in the aggregate results.

Bronze constitutes a premium segment (cast quality, patina, signature, stamps). We also sometimes find combinations of materials such as bronze and ivory, which form part of a more speculative segment, highly conditioned by legal compliance and expertise.

Statuettes (40 - 60 cm) form the core of the market, with their transportable, decorative nature and abundant comparables. Larger pieces belong to a narrower market (logistics, condition, outdoor display) with a more variable valuation.

The criteria for premium pricing are old cast iron, original patina, legible signature, quality of modeling, " titles " subjects such as Vanitas, and provenance.

Discounting criteria can include late casting, refinished patina, accidents, a replaced base, as well as uncertain attribution.

The Levasseur market is abundant and relatively liquid, but driven primarily by decorative figurative statuettes. The price depends less on the subject than on the quality of the cast and the condition.

Recognizing the signature of Henri Louis Levasseur

The artist signs " Levasseur" on his sculptures, most of the time. There are, however, many copies, which is why expertise is important. 

Knowing the value of a work 

If you happen to own a work by or after Henri Louis Levasseur, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal using our form on our website.

A member of our team of experts and chartered auctioneers will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the market value of your work, as well as ad hoc information about it.

If you are considering selling your work, you will also be accompanied by our specialists in order to benefit from alternatives for selling it at the best possible price, taking into account market inclinations.