Aimé-Jules DALOU (1838-1902) - Lot 48

Aimé-Jules DALOU (1838-1902) Bather before the bath Patinated bronze proof, signed, cire perdue A.A Hébrard fondeur Height: 56 cm The Musée du Petit Palais holds a plaster cast referenced under n°PPS 284. Provenance : - Private collection, Paris. Exhibitions: - November 10 - December 18, 1976, Paris, Galerie Delestre, Dalou, the model in patinated plaster, under exhibition no. 6. - April 1982, London, Stoppenbach & Delestre Ltd, Homage to A.A. Hebrard, a similar example is described under no. 16 and reproduced on plate 17 of the catalog. Bibliography - Henriette Caillaux, Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902) Librairie Delagrave, Paris, 1935, the plaster copy is reproduced on page 88, Plate XII and described on page 149 with the indication: "Marble ... Purchased in 1899 by the Compte de X. Belongs to the Countess de Rouvres. The large-scale patinated plaster is in the Petit Palais. Was cast in lost-wax bronze by A.-A. Hébrard". - Amelie Simier, Catalogue of the exhibition Jules Dalou. Le sculpteur de la République, Petit Palais Musées des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 2013, a similar example is described and reproduced on pages 388 & 389, under n°315. Created in 1899, La Baigneuse avant le bain belongs to the artist's last period. This work bears witness to the artist's naturalism, attentive to simple attitudes rather than idealized poses. The seated figure, with her arms folded against her chest and her legs clasped together, is in no way a nude for show. Its beauty lies precisely in this restraint: Dalou observes a body, but also a moment of hesitation. Head bowed, gaze lowered, the young woman seems suspended before the gesture, as if still wondering whether she's about to enter the water. This psychological nuance, discreet but very present, gives the model both physical and inner truth. After Dalou's death, A.-A. Hébrard began casting several models. These posthumous editions began in 1907, as evidenced by a letter from A.-A. Hébrard to Henri Lapauze, curator of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, dated July 19, 1907: "I have received an official letter from the City's Fine Arts Department authorizing me to undertake casts of Dalou...". (Archives Musée du Petit Palais, Paris). The print run of these bronzes is generally limited to ten proofs, with the exception of some copies marked M, for Modèle, destined for the foundry, and a few proofs marked Pièce Unique. Expert : Agnès SEVESTRE-BARBE