ID 1051759
Lot 444 | Émile-Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929)
Estimate value
€ 90 000 – 120 000
Tête d'Apollon, Tête définitive sur grande base
signé, daté et inscrit 'EMILE-ANTOINE BOURDELLE 1900 REPRODUCTION INTERDITE' (sur la côté gauche de la base) et avec la marque du fondeur ‘ALEXIS RUDIER FONDEUR PARIS' (à l'arrière de la base)
bronze à patine brun doré
Hauteur: 67.3 cm.
Conçu vers 1898-1909; cette épreuve fondue vers 1920-30 dans une édition d'environ 15 exemplaires
signed, dated, inscribed 'EMILE-ANTOINE BOURDELLE 1900 REPRODUCTION INTERDITE' (on the left side of the base) and with the foundry mark ‘ALEXIS RUDIER FONDEUR PARIS' (at the back of the base)
bronze with brown and gold patina
Height: 26 ¾ in.
Conceived in 1898; this bronze cast circa 1920-30 in an edition of approximately 15
Provenance
Vente, Mes Bailly-Pommery, Briest et Rieunier, Paris, 19 mars 1996, lot 3.
Collection particulière, Genève (acquis au cours de cette vente).
Puis par descendance aux propriétaires actuels.
Literature
M. Gauthier, Bourdelle, Paris, 1951, pl. III (une autre version illustrée).
I. Jianou et M. Dufet, Bourdelle, Paris, 1984, p. 90, no. 259.
C. Marc Laurillier et M. Dufet, Bourdelle et la critique de son temps, Paris, 1992, p. 219, no. 22 (une autre épreuve illsutrée, p. 41; une autre épreuve illustrée en couleurs couverture).
B. Mantura, Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, cat. exp. Palazzo Racani Arroni, Spolète et Palazzo Ducale, Gênes, 1994, p. 158, no. 37 (une autre épreuve illustrée, p. 65).
C. Lemoine, Antoine Bourdelle, L'Œuvre à demeure, Paris, 2009, p. 53, no. 28 (une autre épreuve illustrée en couleurs, p. 52).
S. Cantarutti, Bourdelle, Faenza, 2013, p. 98 à 101 (une autre épreuve illustrée en couleurs, p.101).
Exhibited
(prêt) Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario.
Further details
Bourdelle a passionnément étudié la leçon de l’art grec et sollicité les grandes figures de la mythologie comme une "inépuisable source d’humanité" – Tête d’Apollon (1898-1909), Pénélope (1905-1912), Héraklès archer (1910), Le Centaure mourant (1911-1914), La Méditation d’Apollon et les Muses (1912),… : son œuvre sculpté compte plus d’une quarantaine de sujets antiques. Dieu du soleil qui préside aux jeux des Muses, Apollon inspire poètes et devins. Une inspiration d’autant plus radieuse qu’elle est décochée par la flèche d’or du dieu solaire et guerrier. Modelée vers 1898, abandonnée puis reprise en 1900, la Tête d’Apollon trouve sa forme définitive en 1909. Bourdelle l’a voulue « austère, inquiète, libre de tout passé ». Libre de l’emprise de Rodin et des virtuosités de surface. L’architecture du visage aux arêtes si pures, sur une base presque cubiste, porte la trace des crevasses, craquelures, cicatrices du masque originel que Bourdelle a retravaillé « pour chercher le plan permanent ». Et mener à bien le combat de la création. Quand l’exigence de l’artiste rejoint le précepte du dieu civilisateur, gravé au temple de Delphes : «rien de trop».
Jérôme Godeau (site du Musée Bourdelle)
Bourdelle learnt the lessons of Greek art, and drew on the great mythological figures as an " inexhaustible source of humanity " - Tête d'Apollon (1898-1909), Pénélope (1905-1912), Héraklès archer (1910), Le Centaure mourant (1911-1914), La Méditation d'Apollon et les Muses (1912)... His sculpted work includes over forty subjects inspired by the Antiquity. Apollo was the sun god who presided over the games of the Muses, and inspired poets and soothsayers. This inspiration was all the more radiant for being delivered by the golden arrow of the warrior sun god.
Bourdelle modelled the Tête d'Apollon circa 1898, abandoned it and then went back to ,it in 1900, to complete its final form in 1909. Bourdelle wanted it to be « austere, worried, free of any past". Free from Rodin's influence and superficial virtuosities. The face's structure defined by its very pure edges, stemming from an almost Cubist base, bears the trace of the crevices, cracks and scars of the original mask that Bourdelle reworked "in search of the permanent plane" to win the fight of creation. The artist's demands meet the precept of the civilising god, engraved on the Delphi temple : « nothing too much ».
Jérôme Godeau (Musée Bourdelle website)
Artist: | Emile Antoine Bourdelle (1861 - 1929) |
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Applied technique: | Metalwork |
Medium: | Bronze |
Artist: | Emile Antoine Bourdelle (1861 - 1929) |
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Applied technique: | Metalwork |
Medium: | Bronze |
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