Charles Henri Joseph CORDIER (1827-1905)

Charles Henri Joseph CORDIER (1827-1905) Muse holding a lyre. About 1859-1865. Turquoise blue marble and white marble of Carrara Height : 167 cm - Width : 58,5 cm - Depth : 50 cm Accidents (notably the left end of the lyre, a chip at the base on the reverse), some stains and old restorations. Provenance: Acquired by Cyr-Adolphe Dervillé at the Cordier sale, Paris, January 21, 1865, No. 5, for 1550 F; Paris, by descent. Exhibition: - Christine Barthe, Laure de Margerie, Charles Cordier (1827-1905), the other and the elsewhere, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, February 3-May 2, 2004, work exhibited under n° 96 Bibliography : - Christine Barthe, Laure de Margerie, Charles Cordier (1827-1905), l'autre et l'ailleurs, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 3 February-2 May 2004, Paris, Ed. De la Martinière, 2004, work listed under cat. no. 398, pp. 193-194. - M. T., " Vente des œuvres de sculpture de M. Charles Cordier ", in L'Union des Arts, n° 49, 31 December 1864, p. 1-2 - Théophile Gautier, " Œuvres de M. Cordier. Statues, busts, statuettes and medallions", in Le Moniteur universel, January 13, 1865. - Henry de Montaut, " Vente des œuvres de M. Cordier, statuaire ", in La Démocratie, January 21, 1865. - Jeannine Durand-Révillon, "Un promoteur de la sculpture polychrome sous le Second Empire, Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier (1827-1905)," in Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de l'art français, session of February 6, 1982, 1984, p. 195, n° 95. This portrait of a muse, in the guise of Félicie Cordier, her face pensive and holding a lyre in her left hand, awaiting inspiration, is a true ode to ancient art, which was the main source of Charles Cordier's research into both form and materials. Mainly known for his ethnographic portraits, Charles Henri Joseph Cordier is also famous for his polychrome sculptures. The archaeological discoveries of the nineteenth century, particularly those made by Quatremère de Quincy, revived the forgotten colors of ancient sculpture and challenged the codes of neoclassical aesthetics promoted by Winckelmann. Charles Cordier works on the creation of sculpture with "natural" polychromy. It consists of the assembly of marbles and stones, the application of enamels or silver or gold patinas, thus corresponding to the sumptuous tastes of the Second Empire. Although he presented his first attempts at polychrome sculpture at the 1853 Salon with his Couple of Chinese in bronze and enamel, Cordier really stood out at the 1857 Salon, on his return from his mission in Algeria. He had discovered deposits of marble-onyx there, abandoned since antiquity and re-exploited from 1842. He then combined different materials: marble, onyx marble and bronze to create ethnographic portraits that were to join for some a "gallery of the main human types" from 1852 in the Jardin des Plantes by its director Constant Duméril. Of the eighteen busts presented in 1857, twelve were studies of Algerians and six were portraits of personalities from his entourage. Among the latter he presents under the anonymous title "Mme C.C" (for Madame Charles Cordier) a bust portrait of his wife, Félicie Berchère (n° 146 of the catalog raisonné of the artist, 160. A stone copy decorates the family vault in the 20th division of the Batignolles cemetery in Paris). For our full-length sculpture, Charles Cordier took the portrait of his wife Félicie and executed a Carrara marble head integrated into a draped turquoise marble. The creation of this work still presents large areas of uncertainty and the critics of the time thought that the artist had cleverly completed an acephalous antique statue. The journalist Henry de Montaut wrote in the newspaper La Démocratie, on January 21, 1865 (Article Sale of the works of Mr. Cordier, statuary): "In the Muse holding a lyre, [Cordier] has successfully accomplished a very delicate work. He had to complete a very beautiful draped body in turquoise marble, adding the head and the extremities that were missing. This difficult task was accomplished by Mr. Cordier with a perfect feeling for ancient art. The presentation of this work during the exhibition dedicated to the artist at the Musée d'Orsay in 2004 allowed specialists to put forward the hypothesis that the turquoise marble sculpture did not date from antiquity. The artist could have acquired a modern work in the style of the antique and transformed it. Unless it is the reuse of a block of marble that he himself would have carved 'in the antique'. In any case, the artist, faithful to his art, has brilliantly assembled two types of marble, including a magnificent and imposing block of turquoise marble, to meet his aspiration of ancient beauty, including mythological subject, expression of feelings and polychromy. The date of execution of the work n