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A three-dimensional painted plaster bust of a young woman, reminiscent of neoclassical style.

The young woman faces forward, looking forward beyond the viewer. Her hair style is neoclassical and close to the head with wavy bangs outlining her forehead and temples, the rest of her hair is tucked under a cloth cap. She has full lips, no smile, high cheekbones, and a placid look on her face. The eyes are big and blank. Her neck is seen with the suggestion of a neckline wearing a simple scoop neck dress. The sculpture is painted with varying browns and warm tones to mimic the look of bronze patina.

Gallery Text

Maillol made this sculpture shortly after he had abandoned painting and begun working with the Nabis, a group of artists that included Pierre Bonnard, whose work hangs nearby. This plaster typifies Maillol’s approach to neoclassicism, in which he simplified forms and emphasized the geometry of his subject. As he declared: “I don’t make portraits, I make heads in which I try to give an impression of the whole. A head interests me when I can bring the architecture out in it.” This sitter’s frozen, placid expression, her frontal orientation toward the viewer, and her idealized features speak to the ancient sources that inspired her form. The plaster is covered in painted washes to imitate a bronze patina.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1951.81
People
Aristide Maillol, French (Banyuls-sur-Mer, France 1861 - 1944 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France)
Title
Head of a Woman
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 1898-1905
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228753

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1220, European Art, 19th–20th century, Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Plaster, with painted patina of red, brown and purple washes
Dimensions
35.2 × 21.6 × 26.4 cm (13 7/8 × 8 1/2 × 10 3/8 in.)
5896.76 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
A. Conger Goodyear, New York, NY (by 1926), sold; [through Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, NY, May 11, 1944, lot 75], sold; to Maurice Wertheim, New York, NY, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1951.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest from the Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
Copyright
© Estate of Aristide Maillol, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Accession Year
1951
Object Number
1951.81
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK HAS SIGNIFICANT LOAN RESTRICTIONS BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings by Aristide Maillol, exh. cat., A. Conger Goodyear (Cleveland, 1925), cat. no. 10, repr.
  • Notable Modern Paintings and Sculpture, auct. cat., Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc. (New York, NY, May 11, 1944), no. 75, p. 37
  • Alfred M. Frankfurter, "Today's Collectors: Modern Milestones", Art News (June 1946), vol. XLV, no. 4, p. 64
  • French Painting since 1870, lent by Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1946), pp. 74-75, repr.
  • Vivien Raynor, "Art: Impressionist Show at the I.B.M. Gallery" [review], The New York Times (New York, NY, April 26, 1985), p. C24
  • John O'Brian, Degas to Matisse: the Maurice Wertheim Collection, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and Fogg Art Museum (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, 1988), no. 39, pp. 134-135, repr. p. 135
  • Elizabeth M. Rudy, "Researching the Wertheim Collection at the Harvard Art Museums", Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals (Summer 2014), Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 301-6

Exhibition History

  • Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings by Aristide Maillol, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 10/29/1926 - 11/29/1926; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, 12/01/1926 - 12/31/1926
  • French Painting since 1870 lent by Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/01/1946 - 09/07/1946; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 07/01/1953 - 09/13/1953
  • Re-View: S427 Impressionist & Postimpressionist Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/02/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 1220 Wertheim, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu