Details

Literature

R. Huard and P. Maillot, Jules Desbois 1851-1935. Une céelébration tragique de la vie , Paris, 2000, p. 106, no. 25

Catalog summary

Jules Desbois French 1851 - 1935 La Treille signed: J.Desbois (3) , entitled: LA TREILLE , and stamped CIRE/PERDUE/A.A. HEBRARD bronze 24½cm., 9⅝in. Catalogue note Desbois was a collaborator and follower of Rodin, and his work is associated with both Art Nouveau and the virtuoso sculptural method of carving en taille directe (free carving, without a model). A student at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1873, Desbois worked in Pierre Cavelier's studio. After a two year stay in New York, where he worked with John Quincy Adams Ward, he returned to Paris and made his debut at the Salon with a bust of Orpheus . Three years later he met Rodin in Carrier-Belleuse's studio, and they worked together as practitioners in Eugene Legrain's atelier. Desbois came under the older sculptor's dominating influence, a relationship which developed into a long-standing collaboration and mutual admiration. His style increasingly moved towards a much greater realism, sculpting in marble en taille directe , as well as working in ivory and wood. However, his work is also deeply personal and lyrical, as represented by the current bronze’s fluid lines and sensuality. A terracotta version of this model is held at the Musée d’Orsay (inv. no. OAO 254) RELATED LITERATURE R. Huard and P. Maillot, Jules Desbois 1851-1935. Une céelébration tragique de la vie , Paris, 2000, p. 106, no. 25