Powerful Bronze of Dockworker Hauling Mooring Line by Alexandre Ouline c. 1925 - 16¼" x 24"

This signed Art Deco bronze by Alexandre Ouline depicts a muscular dockworker straining at a heavy mooring line. The figure is shown bare-chested, barefoot, and in rolled-up trousers, his body braced against a textured ground suggestive of a quay or shoreline. The taut rope pulls toward a low mooring post, heightening the sense of physical effort and dynamic tension. The surface is animated with crisp modeling and lively tool work, finished in a deep brown patina with warm golden highlights. The surface is animated with crisp modeling and lively tool work, finished in a deep brown patina with warm golden highlights. The bronze is signed Ouline on the base and is mounted on a black rectangular marble plinth, which shows minor edge chipping and small abrasions consistent with handling and age.

This piece anchors a console or mantel with sculptural presence, its diagonal pull introducing energy to a hallway, study, or library. It pairs well with nautical charts, period photographs, or weathered woods, and sits comfortably alongside both traditional paneling and pared-back modern rooms. Position it where raking light can graze the surface so the rope twist and muscular planes catch subtle highlights.

Alexandre Ouline, active during the interwar years, was a French sculptor of Russian origin whose bronzes, often athletic male figures or stylized animals, epitomize the bold lines and physical energy of Art Deco. Though his career was brief, he left behind works of striking presence that are now sought after by collectors of early 20th-century sculpture.