DOI Heft:
No. 323 (February 1920)
DOI Artikel:Lytton, Neville: A great French sculptor: Émile Bourdelle
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21359#0180
A GREAT FRENCH SCULPTOR: EMILE BOURDELLE
of the arts and became a praticien in
Rodin’s studio. Rodin had the highest
opinion of his ability, and would, no doubt,
have liked to keep Bourdelle permanently
with him, but once again Bourdelle was
able to renounce easy successes, and devote
himself to that form of art which alone
attracted him ; he was nearer fifty than
forty before any substantial success came
to him. 0 0 & 0 0
I first saw some of his work at the Salon
of 1918, when I was visiting Paris during a
few days’ leave from the front; it was a
very empty Salon, and his bust of Ingres
immediately caught my eye. It is a mag-
nificent work, and I thought it finer than
all the busts of Rodin that I had ever seen ;
portraits of all kinds must be dramatic,
and this Ingres has a fierce vitality that will
appeal to future generations per seecula
seeculorum. I then went to see his sculptures
in relief at the Theatre des Champs-
Elysees ; they have great decorative merits,
but I thought then, and think still, that
some of the heads of the figures are
too deliberately archaic. The primitive
Italians, both in sculpture and painting, are
174
BUST OF MLLE.ZETLIN
BY EMILE BOURDELLE
far more archaic than the Greeks of the
Periclean age, but in those days there was
no quick travelling and no photography,
and it is certain that Cimabue did not know
of the existence of the Goddess of Victory
doing up her sandal. In modern times our
art has been saturated with excessive
realism, and now those who think at all see
the absolute need for some sort of canon,
but the canon adopted by Bourdelle is a
little too obvious ; this applies only to his
heads. The limbs of the figures are perfect,
and for all their great simplicity they are
superbly constructed. He never becomes
barbaric, sensational, and eccentric like
Mestrovitch. 0000
Last year, soon after my demobilization,
I got an introduction to Bourdelle, and
spent three delightful hours with him in
his studios ,* he has a delicious southern
accent, and his conversation is extremely
racy. I was astonished at the excellence of
his Hercules with the Bow ; the body is
absolutely perfect in vigour, grace, and
vitality ; but again I find the head too de-
liberately archaic. The model who inspired
him was a great athlete, killed, like so many
of the arts and became a praticien in
Rodin’s studio. Rodin had the highest
opinion of his ability, and would, no doubt,
have liked to keep Bourdelle permanently
with him, but once again Bourdelle was
able to renounce easy successes, and devote
himself to that form of art which alone
attracted him ; he was nearer fifty than
forty before any substantial success came
to him. 0 0 & 0 0
I first saw some of his work at the Salon
of 1918, when I was visiting Paris during a
few days’ leave from the front; it was a
very empty Salon, and his bust of Ingres
immediately caught my eye. It is a mag-
nificent work, and I thought it finer than
all the busts of Rodin that I had ever seen ;
portraits of all kinds must be dramatic,
and this Ingres has a fierce vitality that will
appeal to future generations per seecula
seeculorum. I then went to see his sculptures
in relief at the Theatre des Champs-
Elysees ; they have great decorative merits,
but I thought then, and think still, that
some of the heads of the figures are
too deliberately archaic. The primitive
Italians, both in sculpture and painting, are
174
BUST OF MLLE.ZETLIN
BY EMILE BOURDELLE
far more archaic than the Greeks of the
Periclean age, but in those days there was
no quick travelling and no photography,
and it is certain that Cimabue did not know
of the existence of the Goddess of Victory
doing up her sandal. In modern times our
art has been saturated with excessive
realism, and now those who think at all see
the absolute need for some sort of canon,
but the canon adopted by Bourdelle is a
little too obvious ; this applies only to his
heads. The limbs of the figures are perfect,
and for all their great simplicity they are
superbly constructed. He never becomes
barbaric, sensational, and eccentric like
Mestrovitch. 0000
Last year, soon after my demobilization,
I got an introduction to Bourdelle, and
spent three delightful hours with him in
his studios ,* he has a delicious southern
accent, and his conversation is extremely
racy. I was astonished at the excellence of
his Hercules with the Bow ; the body is
absolutely perfect in vigour, grace, and
vitality ; but again I find the head too de-
liberately archaic. The model who inspired
him was a great athlete, killed, like so many