Sitting Woman in Blue (Femme assise en bleu)

Bourdelle owned a collection of around 15 drawings by Rodin, most of which were gifts, signed with a dedication by the artist. The dedications ‘to my friend’ or ‘to my great friend’ are a reminder of the bonds of friendship gradually forged between the master and his assistant. Some of the dedications are flattering, such as ‘To my close friend and great sculptor Bourdelle’ on The Moaning Winds(MBCO055).

Bourdelle, who also had a talent for drawing, immediately grasped the extent to which Rodin's graphic work was an artistic expression in its own right. While preparing an exhibition at the Galerie Bernheim in 1907, he went to Meudon while the master was absent to study the drawings and write a study, which was published in the Grande Revue on 10 January 1908. Notably, he wrote: “In his drawings, Rodin gives us the pleasure of seeing him at work: he lets us see the pauses, the emotion. He is willing to confide in the public, with his soul wide open; these little white pages will forever quiver with the emotion of his spirit in front of admirable upon.” (Translated from French)

He seems to have particularly liked Sitting Woman in Blue as it can be seen in photographs (MBPV3679), hanging in the staircase, visible from the dining room, in his apartment in Impasse du Maine (now rue Antoine-Bourdelle). He had it reproduced in Jean Saudé's Traité d'enluminure d'art au pochoir (Treatise on the Art of Pochoir) published in 1925, with a text by Bourdelle on L'art du pochoir.

Valérie Montalbetti Kervella