René BERTRAND-BOUTÉE (Maubeuge, 1877 - Les Sables d'Olonne 1969 ) "For the breed White Carrara marble Signed 'Bertrand Boutée' on the terrace Height : 50 cm "For the race", white carrara marble, signed, by R. Bertrand-Boutée H: 19.96 in. Provenance: Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: Salon des Artistes Français de 1911, Paris, n° 3110 Bibliography: related: Jules de Saint-Hilaire, "Le Salon, Sculpture", in Le Journal des arts, 30 June 1906 ; Charles Holveck, "Le Salon des Artistes français", in La Politique coloniale, 10 May 1906. A student of Louis-Ernest Barrias and Jules Coutan at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, René Bertrand-Boutée exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1898. He became a member of the Salon in 1906, and was noticed that same year when he presented a large plaster group with the evocative title "Pour la race" (cat. no. 2846), for which he was awarded a second-class medal. Imbued with sensuality, the subject features a nude couple tenderly embracing their infant suckling their mother's breast. Kept in the museum in Maubeuge, Bertrand-Boutée's home town, the first monumental version of our model was at one time entitled "First Family", so much so does the iconography refer to the original biblical couple of Adam and Eve giving birth to their first son Cain. It was no doubt encouraged by this success that the sculptor exhibited our second version in Carrara marble at the 1911 Salon (cat. no. 3110), as if to offer a more peaceful and fruitful follow-up to Auguste Rodin's famous Kiss. René BERTRAND-BOUTÉE (Maubeuge, 1877 - Les Sables d'Olonne 1969 ) A student of Louis-Ernest Barrias and Jules Coutan at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, René Bertrand-Boutée began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1898. He became a member of the Salon in 1906, and was noticed that same year when he presented a large plaster group with the evocative title "Pour la race" (cat. no. 2846), for which he was awarded a second-class medal. Imbued with sensuality, the subject features a nude couple tenderly embracing their infant suckling their mother's breast. Kept in the museum in Maubeuge, Bertrand-Boutée's home town, the first monumental version of our model was at one time entitled "First Family", so much so does the iconography refer to the original biblical couple of Adam and Eve giving birth to their first son Cain. It was no doubt encouraged by this success that the sculptor exhibited our second version in Carrara marble at the 1911 Salon (cat. no. 3110), as if to offer a more peaceful and fruitful follow-up to Auguste Rodin's famous Kiss.