Aristide Maillol

Aristide Maillol Baigneuse se coiffant (Femme les deux mains aux cheveux) 1905 Bronze. Height 37.7 cm. Monogrammed 'M' at the bottom of the base on the reverse. - With even black patina, rubbed bronze in a few places. With an expert opinion by Ursel Berger, Berlin, dated 22.10.2017. Provenance Private collection Bavaria Literature Cf. among others Hans Albert Peters (ed.), Maillol, Ausst. Cat. Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Stuttgart 1978, no. 34 with ill.; Stuttgart 1980 (Galerie Valentien), Aristide Maillol. Bronzeskulpturen, p. 17 with ill.; Ursel Berger/Jörg Zutter (eds.), Aristide Maillol, Munich 1996 (exh. Cat. Georg Kolbe-Museum Berlin/ Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne/ Gerhard Marcks-Haus Bremen/ Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim 1996/97), no. 55 with ill., p. 94; Dina Vierny (ed.), Aristide Maillol, exhib. Cat. Palais des Congrès Perpignon, Paris 2000, cat. No. 41 with color ill. The casting and also the sale of the beautiful Maillol nude "Woman Combing Her Hair" are closely connected with the renowned art dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866 - 1939). Mediated by Edouard Vuillard, Vollard became aware of the plastic works of the painter and later mainly sculptor Aristide Maillol in 1902. In the same year he organized his first important exhibition in his gallery. From then on, Vollard became an early mentor and friend of the sculptor, who encouraged him to have the terracottas cast in bronze as well. This was to be just one of his initiatives to support the sculptor financially and to make his work known. As Ursel Berger writes in her expert opinion, the offered statuette belonged to the sculptures that Maillol sold to Vollard around 1905. In the 1905 contract between the sculptor and his art dealer, it is listed - in all likelihood - as 'femme les deux mains aux cheveaux' and given the right of edition 'avec le droit d'édition et de reproduction'. From the business papers of the Galerie Vollard, the 'Fonds Vollard', which have been preserved in large part, it is clear that he had his bronzes cast in the period from 1909 to the 1930s in the renowned Parisian foundry of Florentin Godard (Expertise Ursel Berger, Berlin 22.10.2017). The "Baigneuse se coiffant" from Vollard's edition belongs to a series of early small sculptures by Maillol that were in great demand among his contemporary collectors. In her posture with her hands arranging her hair, she also recalls the numerous "Bathers" by Edgar Degas.