Back to the Museum

You may remember that from November of last year through April of this year I wrote a series of posts about the Cleveland Museum of Art, giving you a tour gallery by gallery. By no means was I finished with our tour. 

Yesterday the weather forecast once again called for rain, which meant another day in which I would not be able to work in the garden.  I decided on the spur of the moment to go back to the museum.  Previously the number of people allowed in the museum was limited, and it was necessary to reserve your visit ahead of time.  Those restrictions have now been lifted.

As I organized my pictures, I realized that I had not shared with you a set of photos from the last time I went there back in early spring.  So before I write about yesterday's visit, here is the gallery of 19th century French sculpture...

Portrait Bust, 1865

by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

Carrier-Belleuse rejected neoclassicism and drew his inspiration from the ornate Rococo style of the 1700s.  He received a number of commissions from Emperor Napoleon III, and this may be a portrait of one of the Emperor's mistresses.  The sculptor contributed to the decoration of the Louvre and the Paris Opera House.

Bust of a Lady, 1872

by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

Carpeaux was also inspired by sculptures from the 1700s, and he also counted Napoleon III as one of his patrons.  This bust is possibly a portrait of an English actress with whom the sculptor was romantically involved.

Bust of a Lady, 1875

by Jules Dalou

Dalou was a student of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.  This terracotta sculpture represents the extreme realism for which he was known.  Because of his socialist politics he spent five years in exile in Britain, which is where he did this portrait of an unknown woman.

Bacchante, 1863

by Jean-Baptiste Clesinger

Clesinger was noted for his realistic and sensual works.  This sculpture portrays an inebriated follower of Bacchus, the god of wine.  The model may have been Apollonie Sabatier, a courtesan and mistress of the poet Baudelaire.

Woman with a Veil, 1891

by Jean-Leon Gerome

Gerome was a very well known painter during his lifetime.  It was not until he was in his fifties that he took up sculpture.

The most famous French sculptor was Auguste Rodin (best known for his statue "The Thinker").  The museum has a number of Rodin's works.

Heroic Head of Pierre de Wissant

1886

One of Rodin's greatest sculptures was "The Burghers of Calais" which depicts an event from the 100 Years War.  Six Frenchmen volunteered to be taken prisoner by the English in return for lifting the siege of the city of Calais.  Separate from the group sculpture, Rodin also did carvings of the individual burghers.  The museum has two heads of one of the burghers, one in plaster, the other in bronze.

The Fall of the Angels, around 1890-1900

Rodin did this marble sculpture inspired by the story of the angels who were cast out of heaven after siding with Satan.

Study of Honore de Balzac, 1891

This is one of a number of preliminary studies which Rodin did for a commission he received to design a monument  in honor of the famous French novelist, Balzac.

The Judgement of Paris, 1914

Late in his life Rodin collaborated with the Catalan sculptor Ricard Guinó, to create this work which tells the story from Greek mythology of Paris, the Prince of Troy, awarding a golden apple to the goddess Aphrodite.