catalog text
AIMÉ-JULES DALOU
French, 1838-1902
A Sleeping Woman
Patinated lost-wax cast bronze | signed "DALOU" to base, inscribed "Susse Fres Edrs PARIS" and "cire purdue"; circa 1870
Item # 205PPP14A
An uncommon and perhaps even scarce study of a sleeping woman modeled by Dalou and edited by the Susse foundry, it is particularly interesting for its exacting historical context. During the nine years of his exile from France, Dalou found an active collector group in England interested in his work. It was during this time that he modeled a series of sculptures dedicated to Womanhood, these executed with an almost photographic realism that cements the historical moment he was capturing. The statuettes include women of the working classes through aristocracy and sought to challenge the strict demarcations between classes and societal roles for women during the late 19th century. His portraits were exacting with great attentions shown in the garments chosen, some with peasant-like garments while others are captured in the latest fashions of the day, while the various genre elements of the scene are also carefully chosen to give a clue to the social status of the subject. These root the work very firmly in the moment they were created to capture and are a departure from the politically progressive modernist artworks he was known for. In the present example, a younger woman of the bourgeoisie is stretched out on a stylish klismo-leg lounge chair filled with large over-stuffed pillows, a fan loosely clutched in her right hand while her left hand rests on the text she was reading.
AIMÉ-JULES DALOU
Born in Paris on the last day of December 1838, Aimé-Jules Dalou was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at the age of sixteen. There he trained under the Romantic influences of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and the rigid Academic teachings of Francois-Joseph Duret; neither of these suited Dalou and he became something of an antithesis to his teachers. Opposing the classicism of the Second Empire, Dalou firmly associated himself with the Third Republic. He became deeply involved in politics and after the events of March 18th through May 28th of 1871 surrounding the revolutionary government of Paris by the Commune. During this period he was named the head of preservation at the Louvre by the Commune of Paris, but after the recapture of Paris by the national government he was immediately forced to exile in England. He remained in London from 1871 through the amnesty of 1879, teaching and sculpting extensively.
Upon his return to France, Dalou is credited with helping restart exhibitions of the "Salon for Dissidents", originally founded in the 1860's and which exhibited at the Champs de Mars in 1890; it was sponsored by the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, of which he was a founding member. His achievements include a medal in 1870, a medal of honour in 1889 and the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle of 1889.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de L'École Française, Vol. II, Stanislas Lami, 1916, p. 2-15
- Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, 1994, p. 233-250
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. IV, Gründ, 2006, p. 357-58
Measurements: 6 1/2" H x 4 3/8" D x 5 1/2" W
Condition Report:
Patina with extensive wear throughout with some color variation and overall discoloration present; much of the patina on the chair back worn away leaving the bronze to naturally oxidize to a nut-brown hue; trace verdigris in crevices; surface carefully cleaned in-house and sealed in conservator-grade wax.