Description
Emile Antoine Bourdelle (French, 1861-1929) Bronze Sculpture
L’ Arlequin.
Conceived in 1905 and cast around 1954
A rare museum quality impressionist – Brutalist interpretation of a harlequin swordsman in bronze with black/brown patina.
Bears the cast signature E. A. BOURDELLE top of the base, © by Bourdelle along one side.
Foundry seal of A. VALSUANI CIRE PERDUE. On corner.
Measures 16 x 16.5 x 5 inches.
Very good condition throughout, no damage, repair or heavy wear. Scratches and wear to patina throughout commensurate of material age and use.
Provenance: The estate of Morton and Estelle Sosland.In Kansas City, the Sosland family name is synonymous with both giving, and the arts. Of their many contributions to the community, ‘The Soslands gave one of the nation’s finest private collections of American Indian art to the Nelson-Atkins’ museum. The content of this auction bears testament to their keen eye and varied interests.
In September 1893 Bourdelle joined the studio of Auguste Rodin. His collaboration with Rodin lasted fifteen years. In 1895, he received his first official commission, a war monument for the city of Montauban. His proposed plans, different from traditional monuments, created a scandal. Rodin intervened on his behalf, and the monument was finally erected in 1902.
In 1900, Bourdelle demonstrated his independence from Rodin’s style with a bust of Apollo. In the same year, Bourdelle, Rodin and the sculptor Desbois opened a free school of sculpture, the Institut Rodin-Debois-Bourdelle. One of the students was Henri Matisse, who later produced some remarkable sculpture, but the school did not last long.
Bourdelle in his studio sketching Grace Christie
In 1905, Bourdelle had his first personal exhibition, in the gallery of the foundry-owner Hébrand. With the support of Hébrand and the material assistance of his foundry, Bourdelle was able to make larger works and earn greater recognition. His father died in 1906, and Bourdelle changed his first name to simply Antoine, after his father. He married his second wife, Cléopatre Sevastos (1892-1972), who was of Greek origin. She and their daughter, Rhodia, became a frequent inspiration for his works.[6]
In 1908, Bourdelle left the studio of Rodin and set out on his own. In 1909 he exhibited a new work, Hercules the Archer at the annual Salon of the Societé Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He began to teach at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where his students included Giacometti, Isaac Frenkel and Adaline Kent.[7]
In 1913 the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was inaugurated, with decoration on the facade and the interior atrium designed by Bourdelle. This work announced the debut of the Art Deco style, and was an important step towards modernism.[5] He was a participant in the 1913 Armory Show in New York, a founder and vice-president of the Parisian Salon des Tuileries. He remained in Paris during the First World War, working on a commission for an art patron from Argentina, Rodolfo Acorta, a monument to General Alvear, which was inaugurated in Buenos Aires in 1925. In 1929, his first major public sculpture in Paris, the monument to the Polish poet Mickiewicz, was inaugurated on Place d’Alma.
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