129 - Charles Despiau (1874–1946)

Charles Despiau (1874–1946) Assia, half-length, version with uncovered ear 1936 Plaster Unsigned H. 91.5 x W. 26.5 x D. 21 cm Provenance: Etienne Legros (1893–1984), a high-ranking civil servant who socialized with many artists and served as president of the Association of Friends of Charles Despiau. This plaster sculpture is none other than Charles Despiau’s masterpiece. *Assia* depicts a highly modern female nude: in a dynamic pose, her face turned to the left, the young woman appears resolute and determined. Self-assured and firmly planted on the ground, she stands upright, despite her torso being slightly tilted forward. With her arms at her sides and her fingers curled, her right arm is thrown back while her left arm extends forward. Her lower body is captured in a slight contrapposto: the entire silhouette is in motion. In a 1934 interview with the art critic Jacques Guenne, Despiau stated that he wanted to make this work a “modern Venus.” That is precisely what he succeeded in creating here: the portrait of a free and emancipated woman. The title *Assia* refers to the first name of the model who posed for Charles Despiau between 1932 and 1936: Assia Granatouroff (1911–1982). A Russian exile, she came to join her father in the French capital when she was barely 10 years old. Fiercely independent, she became self-sufficient at the age of 16 and took on a series of odd jobs. It was in the early 1930s that she began her modeling career, first posing for photographers (Emmanuel Sougez, Ergy Landau, Roger Schall, Dora Maar, Rogi André…), then for artists, painters, and sculptors. When he met the young Assia, Despiau is said to have exclaimed, captivated: “Her shoulders are Egyptian, her hips are Greek!” He then began sculpting, first in clay, then in plaster. The first completed version is the one presented here: a half-life-size plaster sculpture with the ears exposed. There is, in fact, another version of the work in which the ears are covered by the young woman’s hair. The work was unveiled to the public in 1937 during the exhibition *Les Maîtres de l’art indépendant* at the Petit Palais, as well as at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, whose opening coincided with that of the International Exhibition of Arts and Technology. The work was an immediate success, and the sculpture found its way into the collections of the world’s leading museums and international collectors. The purchaser may request a notice of inclusion in the Critical Catalog of Charles Despiau’s Sculptural Works—currently being prepared by the Galerie Malaquais—from the Despiau Committee. Related works: Assia, plaster, Valenciennes, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. S.Y.99, on loan from the National Museum of Modern Art–Centre Georges Pompidou. Related literature: - Jacques Guenne, “Charles Despiau,” *Les cahiers de Radio-Paris*, January 15, 1934, pp. 49–50; - *La Renaissance*, “Tribute to Charles Despiau,” special issue, 1938, model reproduced on the cover; - Élisabeth Lebon, *Charles Despiau (1874–1946)*, catalog raisonné of his sculptural works, Ph.D. dissertation in Art History, supervised by Mady Ménier (University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), 1995, entry 125-2(1)-P; - Élisabeth Lebon, Charles Despiau: Classical and Modern, Biarritz, Atlantica, 2016, model reproduced on p. 158.