Paul Landowski (1875-1961) Aviation or Human Aspiration or Monument to Wilbur Wright Bronze with brown patina shaded with green Signed on the back of the rock "Landowski". Bears the founder's mark "F. BARBEDIENNE. FONDEUR. PARIS" to the right of the rock. Bears the inscription "CHALLENGE 'KIWI'". (DECATHLON CLUB DE France)". H. 80 cm on a square wooden base H. 6 cm Related works : - Paul Landowski, Monument to Wilbur Wright, 1918, stone, Le Mans, place des Jacobins ; - Paul Landowski, Monument to Wilbur Wright, stone, H. 265 cm, W. 105 cm,D. 100 cm, Boulogne-Billancourt, Landowski Museum, inv. 82.1.47. Related literature: - Michèle Lefrançois, Paul Landowski : l'œuvre sculpté, Grâne, ed. Créphis, 2009, model listed under no. 19.12, p, 160, pp. 155-162 ; - Florence Rionnet, Les bronzes Barbedienne. L'oeuvre d'une dynastie de fondeurs (1834-1954), Paris, Arthena, 2016, model listed under Cat. 1000, p. 359. This bronze is based on the sketch for Paul Landowski's monument to Wilbur Wright, commissioned in 1912 by the American Louis de Beaumont for the city of Le Mans to celebrate the aviator's early exploits. The inauguration of the monument in 1920 revealed the presence of a bas-relief featuring Icarus on the base, as well as the names of the first martyred aviators.