Sculpture "Baigneuse debout drapée - Standing Bather with a Cloak" (1900), reduction in bronze
Sculpture "Baigneuse debout drapée - Standing Bather with a Cloak" (1900), reduction in bronze
Quick info
ars mundi Exclusive Edition | limited, 980 copies | numbered | signature | foundry hallmark | certificate | bronze | patinated | reduction | size 38.5 x 10 x 10 cm (h/w/d) | weight 3.5 kg
Detailed description
Sculpture "Baigneuse debout drapée - Standing Bather with a Cloak" (1900), reduction in bronze
Aristide Maillol's main theme is the female nude. Although he developed it on a living model, he abandoned individual features to create a harmonious, sensual femininity par excellence. The "Standing Bather with a Cloak" shows that Maillol had already found his own stylistic expression early on, which he barely changed in the decades that followed.
Fine bronze, cast by hand using the Lost-Wax-Process and patinated brown like the original. Directly moulded from the original and reduced in size (reduction). Limited edition of 980 copies, individually numbered and with the signature taken from the original as well as the foundry hallmark. ars mundi Exclusive Edition, published in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Bremen. With numbered certificate of authenticity and limitation. Size 38,5 x 10 x 10 cm (h/w/d). Weight 3,5 kg.
"The important French sculptor Aristide Maillol is represented with several works in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen. The artist combined a lifelong fascination for the motif of the female nude with a reduced, classical stylistic expression. 'Standing Bather with Cloak' is a particularly fine copy of a figure at peace with herself." (Prof. Dr Christoph Grunenberg, Director of the Kunsthalle Bremen)
About Aristide Maillol
1861-1944
Alongside Auguste Rodin, who held him in high esteem, Aristide Maillol is one of the most important French sculptors of his generation. Yet his path to sculpture was quite unusual: It was around 1895 when he was in his mid-thirties, he began to work seriously with sculpture in wood and clay. He began working as a self-taught artist after studying painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Maillol had initially became known as a painter and graphic artist clearly influenced by Paul Gauguin. However, he had already expanded his means of artistic expression early on by working intensively with ceramic art and with woven and knotted works. Maillol's first major solo exhibition was a compilation of tapestries and early small sculptures. From the turn of the century onwards, he concentrated more and more on sculpture.
On the one hand, Maillol's sculptures refer strongly to classical sculpture with their emphasis on evenness and balance. On the other hand, they take steps towards abstraction and, precisely because of this, he became a model for the following generation of sculptors. His main theme was the female nude, which he executed as a harmonious, sensual femininity par excellence, although developed on a living model, renouncing individual features.
Maillol's best-known works include the large sculptures "The Three Nymphs" in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris and, especially among German art lovers, "The River", a reclining female nude that can be admired in front of the Hamburg Kunsthalle.
An alloy of copper with other metals (especially with tin) used since ancient times.
When casting bronze, the artist usually applies the lost-wax technique which is dating back more than 5000 years. It's the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.
First, the artist forms a model of his sculpture. It is embedded in a liquid silicone rubber mass. Once the material has solidified, the model is cut out. The liquid wax is poured into the negative mould. After cooling down, the wax cast is removed from the mould, provided with sprues and dipped into ceramic mass. The ceramic mass is hardened in a kiln, whereby the wax flows out (lost mould).
Now we finally have the negative form, into which the 1400° C hot molten bronze is poured. After the bronze had cooled down, the ceramic shell is broken off and the sculpture is revealed.
Now the sprues are removed, the surfaces are polished, patinated and numbered by the artist himself or, to his specifications, by a specialist. Thus, each casting becomes an original work.
For lower-quality bronze castings, the sand casting method is often used which, however, does not achieve the results of a more complex lost-wax technique in terms of surface characteristics and quality.
Graphic or sculpture edition that was initiated by ars mundi and is available only at ars mundi or at distribution partners licensed by ars mundi.
Term for an art object (sculpture, installation), which is produced in multiple copies in a limited and numbered edition according to the artist‘s will.
Artist's multiples have been called the most accessible and affordable art on the market.
A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.
While sculptures from wood, ivory or stone are made directly from the block of material, in bronze casting a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.
The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.