Javanese Panther

Mateo Hernandez

1922–25 · Diorite · Modern and Contemporary Art

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.

Artist

Mateo Hernandez

Date

1922–25

Medium

Diorite

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph John Kerrigan, 1935