Preparatory sketch for the Première victoire d'Hannibal

This sketch preceded the creation of one of Antoine Bourdelle's early sculptures, Hannibal's First Victory (1885). Several preparatory drawings in the Musée Bourdelle reveal the artist's creative process. In this “first draft”, the broad outlines of his composition are already present: a child stands on a base, with one leg behind, clutching an eagle with outstretched wings. The turning out of the left leg that drives the child's rotational movement is still missing, but the rapidity of the line shows the vigour that Bourdelle wanted to infuse into his sculpture. Three layers of Bourdellian creation are displayed in this drawing: the preparatory drawing, the poetic writing and the reflection on framing. 
This quick, Indian ink sketch is accompanied by text written by Bourdelle, in which we find his unadorned, lyrical style. It seems to list the characteristics of the future sculpted group: “straight hair / head brushed roughly and briskly [...] in magnitude in / roughness in / wildness […]”. However, it is difficult to read the “wildness” of this scene from Gustave Flaubert's novel Salammbô (1862) in the final sculpture. The work, which clearly demonstrates the young artist's skill, shows above all the influence of the sculptor Alexandre Falguière. Bourdelle had recently joined the master's studio in 1884. This sculpture won the young student an honourable mention at the 1885 Salon des Artistes Français, when he was just 24 years old. It later inspired him to write several texts and two poems (Proses de tout temps and Les rires d'Hannibal). 
These works are recorded in one of Bourdelle's blue notebooks. The artist compiled these notebooks, which include a collection of preparatory drawings, accumulated and pasted directly onto the pages, in the manner of an illustrated directory. The watercolours with which Bourdelle sets the scene around his sketch were probably added at a later date, and magnify the victorious figure of the child. He also added a narrow border in black ink. As with his sculptures, Bourdelle carefully delineated the space but allowed the work to break out of it. He accepted that the paper could be taken out of the frame, and this overflow, as well as the layout - which skilfully plays with full and empty spaces - reveals how the artist's eye changed at every stage of his work.  

Lili Davenas