Maillol

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MAILLOL by Denys Chevalier Aftcr Carpeaux, Rodin; aftcr Rodin, Maillol. Thus the uninterrupted continuation of what the author calls the « royal road » of French sculpture, closely associated with universal sculpture, is cnsured. Each generation makes its own contribution to an art, and, subject to its characteristic esthetic preocc.upations, establishcs its own landmarks on that road. Placed within the context of his time, Maillol, the Master of Banyuls (1861-1944), seems to take his plaee in two generations: as the contemporary of Maurice Denis, Vuillard, K. X. Rousseff and others born in the same deeade as himself; and, paradoxically (since he did not take up sculpture until he was nearly forty), of Jean Arp, Brancusi, Duchamp-Villon, etc. Thus Maillol belongs simultaneously to the nineteenth century, by virtue of his birth and education, and to the twentieth, by the dates of his production. Moreover, although in certain of its aspeets his expression belongs to the nineteenth... Tovább

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MAILLOL by Denys Chevalier Aftcr Carpeaux, Rodin; aftcr Rodin, Maillol. Thus the uninterrupted continuation of what the author calls the « royal road » of French sculpture, closely associated with universal sculpture, is cnsured. Each generation makes its own contribution to an art, and, subject to its characteristic esthetic preocc.upations, establishcs its own landmarks on that road. Placed within the context of his time, Maillol, the Master of Banyuls (1861-1944), seems to take his plaee in two generations: as the contemporary of Maurice Denis, Vuillard, K. X. Rousseff and others born in the same deeade as himself; and, paradoxically (since he did not take up sculpture until he was nearly forty), of Jean Arp, Brancusi, Duchamp-Villon, etc. Thus Maillol belongs simultaneously to the nineteenth century, by virtue of his birth and education, and to the twentieth, by the dates of his production. Moreover, although in certain of its aspeets his expression belongs to the nineteenth century, in other, equally important aspeets he belongs within the great movement which renewed artistic sensibility during the first half of our century. Maillol was the first to consider the elements of the humán figure not as motifs for anecdotal representation, but as pure mass, denuded of all extra-sculptural signific.ance. However, to present him as the precursor of abstract art would be simply to play upon words, and the author, in accordance with the valuable information supplied by the sculptor himself in the course of numerous conversations, is careful to avoid this. Moreover. Maillol's deep attachment to nature, in whose forms he saw the source of all artistic inspiration, is too obviouslv visible in his works to permit us to disregard it. Maillol's is an extraordinary personality, ambiguous and simple, rich and contemptuous of wealth, modest and indifferent to honors, but sensitive to respect and evidences of admiration. sure of himself but possessing a strange need for constant confirmation of this certitude. Maillol, placed at a pivot point in the history of art, like all truly great artists, remains above all a solitary man and irreducible phenomenon. The 70-odd lovely illustrations clearly show Maillol's characteristics and enable the reader to see how his work has influenced contemporary sculpture. 43 paintings and scúlptures in full color, 30 sculptures and drawings in black and. white. Illustration on front cover: La Nuit, ca. 1902 Originál plaster cast 42" X 73" Dina Viemy Collection Illustration on back cover: La Riviere, 1938-1943 Lead. Height 50" French National Collection Vissza