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Lot 23 Arrivé à Paris en 1884, Émile-Antoine Bourdelle intègre l’atelier de Falguière à l’École des Beaux-Arts, avant d’être engagé par Rodin comme praticien vers 1893. Les deux hommes se lient rapidement d’amitié, et Rodin apporte à son élève un soutien précieux au début de sa carrière, lui permettant d’exploiter ses dons avec une liberté que n’auraient pas permis les méthodes officielles. Rodin dira de son protégé : « Bourdelle est un de ces hommes et de ces artistes dont on doit parler. C’est un éclaireur de l’avenir » (« Émile-Antoine Bourdelle », in Volne Smery, Paris, 1909). Si l’influence du maître est manifeste dans l’œuvre de Bourdelle, ce dernier cherche rapidement à gagner en indépendance et à affirmer son propre style. Évoquant Rodin, il écrit en 1905 : « J’ai travaillé pour lui, je l'ai fréquenté et je lui voue une admiration profonde. Mais celui qui suit restera toujours derrière. J’ai donc acquis tout le savoir que j’ai été capable d’acquérir des autres et, l'ayant digéré, je cherche de tout mon penchant naturel à rester moi-même » (cité in P. Curtis, « Lettre d’Émile-Antoine Bourdelle », Paris, 1988, p. 171).
Un idéal aux accents essentiellement classiques prend forme chez le sculpteur. À l'instar de son contemporain Aristide Maillol, Bourdelle s'inspire du rêve d'un passé archaïque – qu'il réinterprète, toutefois, avec une vigueur et un héroïsme bien éloignés du caractère idyllique de la statuaire de Maillol. Bourdelle « préférait la conception spirituelle et architecturale de la sculpture égyptienne et de l'art grec primitif à l'idéalisme virtuose et lumineux des modelages de l'âge de Phidias. Il appréciait la “sagesse ardente” des églises romanesques et gothiques, davantage que les chefs-d'œuvre de la Renaissance italienne » (M. Dufet, 'Bourdelle the Forerunner', in Sculpture of Antoine Bourdelle, cat. exp., Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1970, p. 14).
Having arrived in Paris in 1884, Émile-Antoine Bourdelle joined Falguière’s studio at the École des Beaux-arts, before Rodin appointed him as an assistant in around 1893. The two men quickly became friends and Rodin gave Bourdelle valuable support at the beginning of his career, enabling him to make use of his talents with a freedom that official methods would not have permitted. As Rodin said on the subject of his protégé “Bourdelle is one of those people and artists that one has to talk about. He is a pathfinder of the future” (‘Émile-Antoine Bourdelle’, in Volne Smery, Paris, 1909). While the influence of the master is evident in his work, Bourdelle soon sought to become more independent and establish his own style. Referring to Rodin, in 1905 he wrote: “I worked for him, spent time with him and profoundly admire him. But he who follows will always be behind. So I absorbed all the science I was capable of learning from others and after digesting it I aim with all my natural inclination to remain myself” (quoted in P. Curtis, Lettres d’Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, 1988, p. 171).
Bourdelle's emerging ideal was essentially classical in spirit. Like Aristide Maillol, his contemporary, he was also guided by the dream of the archaic past, although Bourdelle's art is vigorously active and heroic in contrast to the idyllic character of Maillol's sculpture. Bourdelle "preferred the architectural and spiritualized conception of Egyptian sculpture and Greek art of the archaic period to the idealism and the masterful and luminous modelling of the age of Phydias. He appreciated the 'ardent wisdom' of Romanesque and Gothic churches more than the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance" (M. Dufet, 'Bourdelle the Forerunner', in Sculpture of Antoine Bourdelle, exh. cat., Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1970, p. 14).
Un idéal aux accents essentiellement classiques prend forme chez le sculpteur. À l'instar de son contemporain Aristide Maillol, Bourdelle s'inspire du rêve d'un passé archaïque – qu'il réinterprète, toutefois, avec une vigueur et un héroïsme bien éloignés du caractère idyllique de la statuaire de Maillol. Bourdelle « préférait la conception spirituelle et architecturale de la sculpture égyptienne et de l'art grec primitif à l'idéalisme virtuose et lumineux des modelages de l'âge de Phidias. Il appréciait la “sagesse ardente” des églises romanesques et gothiques, davantage que les chefs-d'œuvre de la Renaissance italienne » (M. Dufet, 'Bourdelle the Forerunner', in Sculpture of Antoine Bourdelle, cat. exp., Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1970, p. 14).
Having arrived in Paris in 1884, Émile-Antoine Bourdelle joined Falguière’s studio at the École des Beaux-arts, before Rodin appointed him as an assistant in around 1893. The two men quickly became friends and Rodin gave Bourdelle valuable support at the beginning of his career, enabling him to make use of his talents with a freedom that official methods would not have permitted. As Rodin said on the subject of his protégé “Bourdelle is one of those people and artists that one has to talk about. He is a pathfinder of the future” (‘Émile-Antoine Bourdelle’, in Volne Smery, Paris, 1909). While the influence of the master is evident in his work, Bourdelle soon sought to become more independent and establish his own style. Referring to Rodin, in 1905 he wrote: “I worked for him, spent time with him and profoundly admire him. But he who follows will always be behind. So I absorbed all the science I was capable of learning from others and after digesting it I aim with all my natural inclination to remain myself” (quoted in P. Curtis, Lettres d’Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, 1988, p. 171).
Bourdelle's emerging ideal was essentially classical in spirit. Like Aristide Maillol, his contemporary, he was also guided by the dream of the archaic past, although Bourdelle's art is vigorously active and heroic in contrast to the idyllic character of Maillol's sculpture. Bourdelle "preferred the architectural and spiritualized conception of Egyptian sculpture and Greek art of the archaic period to the idealism and the masterful and luminous modelling of the age of Phydias. He appreciated the 'ardent wisdom' of Romanesque and Gothic churches more than the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance" (M. Dufet, 'Bourdelle the Forerunner', in Sculpture of Antoine Bourdelle, exh. cat., Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1970, p. 14).
Émile-Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929)
La Danse
Closed22 October 2020
Price Realised
EUR 187,500
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Specialist note
Rhodia Dufet-Bourdelle a confirmé l'authenticité de cette oeuvre en 1987.