Méditerranée
/
Aristide Maillol
(1861 -
1944)
Niveau médian,
Terrasse des sculptures 1880-1910
Artwork location
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".
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".
Artist(s)
auteur
Banyuls-sur-mer, Pyrénées-Orientales (66) (France) 1861 - Banyuls-sur-mer, Pyrénées-Orientales (66) (France) 1944
Title(s)
titre principal : Méditerranée
autre titre : La Pensée
titre principal : Méditerranée
autre titre : La Pensée
Date
entre 1923 et 1927
[D'après un plâtre exposé en 1905.]
Others accession number
Accession number
RF 3248
AM 1463
Description
statue en marbre
Dimensions
H. 110,5 ; L. 117,5 ; P. 68,5 cm; pds. 680 kg.
Others accession number
Accession number
RF 3248
AM 1463
Designation
statue
Place of conservation
musée d'Orsay
- 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
Modality of acquisition
achat après commande
Acquistion Date
1923
- 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
- De la verdure et de la grâce - Maillol et Sintenis - Sammlung Oskar Reinhart «Am Römerholz» - Suisse, Winterthur, 2024
General bibliography
-
(dir.) Cogeval, Guy, Le Musée d'Orsay à 360 degrés, Paris, Skira ; Flammarion ; Musée d'Orsay, 2013, p. 345, texte par Ophélie Ferlier
Exposition catalog
-
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
-
Ely, Bruno ; Vial, Marie-Paule ; Grammont, Claudine ; Hergott, Fabrice ; Ocaña, Maria Teresa, Le grand Atelier du midi, cat. exp. (Marseille, musée des Beaux-Arts, du 13/06/2013 au 13/10/2013), Paris, Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais, 2013, fig. 4, p. 219 (reprod.)
-
Ferlier-Bouat, Ophélie ; Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette, Aristide Maillol, la quête de l'harmonie, cat. exp. (Paris, musée d’Orsay, du 11 avril au 21 août 2022), Paris, Gallimard, 2022, p.12-15, 23-24, 91-92, 113, 144-146, 150, 152-158, 183, 198-199, 221-222, 231-233, 238, 257-258
-
Richter, Kerstin ; Baumhoff, Katja, La grandeur et la grâce, Mailol et Sintenis, cat. exp. (Winthertour, Collection Oscar Reinhardt "Am Rëmerholz", du 18 mai au 15 septembre 2024), Munich, Hirmer, 2024, pp. 50-51
Summary catalog
-
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
Do you have a question where you have additional knowledge about this work? You can write to us to suggest improvements to the file.
Make a suggestion