Méditerranée
In 1905, when this statue was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne under the title Woman, it caused a stir. The writer André Gide wrote: "She is beautiful and meaningless." The title of Mediterranean was given later.
The statue was commissioned by Count Harry Kessler, a German and Maillol's patron after 1904, for whom Maillol also created The Cyclist and Desire. The original limestone statue is in Switzerland. The Musée d'Orsay has two versions of it: the bronze is a recent cast while the marble is a copy made during the artist's lifetime.
The statue's beauty lies in its simplicity. Maillol's approach was the opposite of general practice at the time, which was still influenced by Rodin. No excessive emotion, no straining muscles. The face is blank, the limbs are well rounded and the skin is smootH. Maillol modified his statue until he achieved the ideal composition. The figure is a set of interlocking triangles, folded in on itself as if in thought. Only a hand and a foot extend beyond the frame. In the second version, here in marble, we can see how Maillol has evolved in relation to the earlier bronze version. This simplification of sculpture after 1900 is referred to as the "return to order".
- 1923, acquis après commande
- à partir de 1929, au Jardin des Tuileries
- à partir de 1965, au musée national d'Art Moderne
- 1977, attribué au musée du Louvre (reversement du M.N.A.M.)
- 1986, affecté au musée d'Orsay
- La sculpture française au XIXe siècle - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 1986
- Maillol : La Méditerranée - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 1986-1987
- Méditerranée - De Courbet à Matisse - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 2000-2001
- Paris-Barcelone, de Gaudi à Miro - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 2001-2002
- Paris-Barcelona (1888-1936) - Museu Picasso - 2002
- Oublier Rodin ? La sculpture à Paris, 1905-1914 - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2009
- Olvidar a Rodin ? Escultura em Paris, 1905-1914 - Fundación Mapfre - Espagne, Madrid, 2009
- Invitados de Honor. Exposicion conmemorativa del 75 aniversario del MNAC - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya - 2009-2010, p.320-321
- Aristide Maillol, Henri Frère, Joseph-Sébastien Pons. Une Arcadie catalane - musée d'Art moderne - France, Céret, 2016
- Aristide Maillol (1861-1944). La quête de l'harmonie - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2022
- Aristide Maillol (1861-1944). La quête de l'harmonie - musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent - La Piscine - France, Roubaix, 2023
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(dir.) Cogeval, Guy, Le Musée d'Orsay à 360 degrés, Paris, Skira ; Flammarion ; Musée d'Orsay, 2013, p. 345, texte par Ophélie Ferlier
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Chevillot, Catherine ; Leroy-Terquem, Mélanie, Oublier Rodin : la sculpture à Paris, 1905-1914, cat. exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, du 10/03/2009 au 31/05/2009 ; Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, du 26/06/2009 au 13/09/2009), Paris, Hazan, 2009, n° 16, p. 125
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Ely, Bruno ; Vial, Marie-Paule, Le grand atelier du Midi, cat. exp. (Aix-en-Provence, musée Granet, 13 juin-13 octobre 2013 ; Marseille, musée des Beaux-Arts, 13 juin-13 octobre 2013), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux ; Communauté du Pays d'Aix ; Ville , 2013, p.219
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Pingeot, Anne ; Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette ; Margerie, Laure de, Musée d'Orsay. Catalogue sommaire illustré des sculptures, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, p.190
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