Aimé-Jules Dalou French, 1838-1902
Signed DALOU
Inscribed Susse Fres Edrs Paris
Inset with Susse Fres Editeurs/Paris foundry pastille
Conceived circa 1889 and cast after 1902.
Bronze with rich dark brown patina
Further images
Dalou sculptured female nudes, and most particularly bathers, throughout his career. The works were never shown at the Royal Academy whilst the sculptor was in England, or indeed at the French Salon after his return to Paris in 1879, which makes accurate dating of some of the models difficult.
Nevertheless, the works remain some of Dalou’s most accomplished. The artist developed the idealised 18th century prototypes of Étienne Maurice Falconet and Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain by creating naturalistic models of bathers engaged in everyday activities devoid of allegory; undressing before bathing, drying after bathing, bending, reaching, removing their stockings or covering themselves after being taken by surprise. Such realism predates the work of Edgar Degas, who’s own sculpture, particularly Woman Seated in an Armchair Wiping Her Left Armpit and a Woman Seated in an Armchair Wiping Her Neck owe much to the work of Dalou.
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