Wijn van de Bourgogne (1929) 1929

This bronze medal, 'Wijn van de Bourgogne,' was made in 1929 by H. Bouchard. On one side, you have this portrait, and on the other, a flurry of figures harvesting grapes. The whole thing has a tactile quality; you can almost feel the weight of it in your hand. Look at the texture – it’s so alive! The artist really worked the surface, leaving marks that catch the light and create a sense of movement. Especially in the cluster of grapes, you can imagine Bouchard pushing and prodding to bring the form to life. It’s rough, but that roughness is what gives it character, what brings it into being. You see this approach in Rodin's bronzes, too, that feeling of an active engagement with the material. It's like they're not just depicting something; they're wrestling with it. The ambiguity of the marks becomes part of the story.