Lot n° 526
Estimation :
3000 - 5000
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Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838 - 1902) - Lot 526
Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838 - 1902)
Peasant raising his sleeve, also known as Le travail or Le Grand Paysan
Plaster
circa 1899-1904
H. 84 cm x L. 60 cm
Provenance: Susse estate by inheritance
The present work is the only known plaster cast of Le Paysan, made to the final scale corresponding to the bronze sculpture in the Musée d'Orsay.
The exact nature of this plaster cast is today uncertain: was it a plaster cast for a foundry model, or the partial chief model of a sand cast or a lost-wax cast? Or is it a plaster from Dalou's workshop? Indeed, when the artist died in April 1902, his executors found a large number of sculptures in his studio collection, the existence of which had been unknown until then.
Dreyfous, Dalou's first biographer, described his creative process, which involved a succession of sketches taken on the spot, sketches drawn and modeled, followed by posing sessions in the studio, including some fifty for the Paysan. A clay figure is first created and enlarged to its final size, but not without taking the precaution of making a plaster cast, which is also enlarged. Does our sculpture correspond to one of the stages in this process? Whatever its nature, this plaster is an exceptional testimony to Dalou's creative process.
Le Paysan levant sa manche is one of the major sculptures of the early 20th century. After the success of the Triomphe de la
République inaugurated by Dalou in 1889 at the Place de la Nation in Paris, the sculptor planned a Monument aux ouvriers to crystallize his social and political ideas. The artist designed this monument in successive stages of historiated columns, the last of which, dated 1896, features niches at its base housing statues of workers, all 32 meters high. This monument never saw the light of day, with the exception of the Grand Paysan, a plaster model of which was found in Dalou's studio when he died. A few days later, the plaster cast was exhibited at the twelfth salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, of which Dalou was one of the founders along with Rodin. A possible stand-alone figure in the Monument aux Ouvriers, Le Paysan levitating his sleeve caused a sensation for the realism of its depiction of the peasant's body, marked by hard labor and the accuracy of its gesture. On December 31, 1902, Dalou's daughter Georgette, who died on April 5 of the same year, entrusted the plaster cast to Maison Susse for the bronze edition of eight copies.
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