Aristide MAILLOL (Banyuls-sur-Mer, 1861 - Perpignan, 1944) - Lot 129

Lot 129
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Estimation :
2000 - 3000 EUR
Aristide MAILLOL (Banyuls-sur-Mer, 1861 - Perpignan, 1944) - Lot 129
Aristide MAILLOL (Banyuls-sur-Mer, 1861 - Perpignan, 1944) Studies for two sculpted groups [recto] Young woman with a transparent drape [verso] Sketch sheet, front and back 23,9 x 15,6 cm Original drawings: graphite and charcoal on paper Monogram stamped lower right "M" [verso]. Inscriptions: numbers 35 60 25 and 38 above the female figures [recto] and Inv 457 at lower right [recto and verso] "To what degree Maillol has the feeling of form, of the beauty of a line, of the geometric perfection of a volume, is what his slightest sketches, his quickest sketches express. A simple line is enough for him to define the plastic interest of a work in which he will linger for many months. (Maurice Denis, Theories, of symbolism and Gauguin towards a new classical order, 1890-1910, 1912) At the age of twenty, Maillol chose a pictorial path; at forty, he chose a sculptural one. But throughout his career, drawing (especially in preparation for sculpture) was his common thread. Whether in charcoal, graphite or red chalk, he sketched, sketched, sketched bodies, mainly of naked women, in notebooks and on sheets. Even if he did not appreciate his academic training (Gérôme's studio, Arts Décoratifs, then Cabanel's studio at the Beaux-Arts), there is still a trace of it in his later drawings. Filled with the new ideas of Gauguin - who opened his eyes to other plastic forms - he immersed himself in Greek, Egyptian, Indian and African art, while maintaining a taste for Baroque art and the Italian masters. The interest of our drawing [verso] lies in its typological rarity: Maillol depicted few female figures with a veil or drape of modesty, a kind of ancient "peplos", preferring to depict women completely naked, with voluptuous forms. Around 1910, he depicted a seated young girl in a transparent shirt with a rounded neckline, in the same vein as our drawing (lot n°17, charcoal on paper, 27.5 x 18 cm, Sotheby's London, 26 February 1986). These same transparent tunics are worn by two of the young "graces" making the rounds in the sketch that seems to be preparatory to a project for a sculpted group with five figures [recto]. Below, a second sketch presents a farandole of putti in the Italian taste, perhaps the bas-relief of the base carrying the female figures. Sensuality and classicism characterize this sheet where the "maillolesque" types are particularly characterized. It belonged to a family of well-informed collectors close to famous artists, whose grandmother was portrayed by masters, including Kisling. Expert : Virginie Journiac, Art Historian, Expert approved in Works of Art by the CECOA, the FNEPSA and the CEDEA.
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