Jean-Leon Gerome (France, 1824-1904) bronze sculpture depicting two jockeys on horseback, jumping over a hedge. Signed "J L Gerome" left side of base, with Siot Decauville Fondeur Paris foundry mark and stamped "58 I" back of base. 13 3/4" H x 19" W x 7 1/2" D. French, late 19th/early 20th century. Biography: Jean-Leon Gerome was an important French painter and teacher of the late 19th century, and began sculpting relatively late in his career. Born to a privileged family in Vesoul, France, he came to Paris as a teenager to study with Paul Delaroche, with whom he received academic training influenced by the Neo Classical style with a focus on historical accuracy and attention to detail. He also studied at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts and in the studio of Charles Gleyere, and later taught in his own Atelier. Gerome was a leading advocate of the Academic tradition in France, initially resistant to Impressionism and other Modern styles. Gerome was made a knight of the Legion of Honor in 1867. He begin sculpting at the age of fifty four, and his sculpture was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 and at the Paris Salon of 1878. Provenance: The Estate of Jane Dudley, Nashville, TN and Palm Beach, FL. Social icon Jane Dudley was the founder of one of the South's most prestigious charity events - the Swan Ball, benefiting Cheekwood. She traveled the world as the wife of U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Guilford Dudley, with whom she shared a landmark Nashville estate, Northumberland. A graduate of Nashville's Parmer School, Ward Belmont and Vanderbilt University, she worked briefly for the Tennessean newspaper and later for Tiffany & Co., where she managed corporate accounts for more than twenty years and later served on the board of directors. Mrs. Dudley was also a member of the International Best Dressed List. In 1963 she was the founding chairman of The Swan Ball, now the nation's longest running charity ball. She also chaired the Tiffany Feather Ball in New York from 1981-1991, the ball benefiting the Palm Beach Cancer Society in the 1970s (featuring entertainer Bob Hope), and in England, a ball at Blenheim Palace to raise funds for the historic castle's roof. (Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com.)