Beethoven

Emile Antoine BOURDELLE (1861, Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne, France) - 1929, Le Vésinet (Yvelines, France))

  • s.d.
  • Brush, pen, and black ink on laid paper
  • 21.4 cm x 18.1 cm
  • MBD1634

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Antoine Bourdelle identified with Beethoven and his genius from an early age. He produced many busts of him throughout his career, but few drawings. This one appears to be a study for a monument that never came to fruition.
All the ardour of the musician's tortured genius is expressed in this dark composition. His head occupies a central place where the light tries to pierce the surrounding darkness. Above this head rises a tormented allegory that is one with the figure: exuding from it, it is its very soul. The wings are each extended by limbs; the musician's legs rest on the ground to one side, with his arms on the keyboard to the other; the whole spouting out in the form of a cross, tearing through the blackness of the ink.  The hands clenching towards the sky replicate playing an instrument, adding to the tragic aspect of the scene and reinforcing the supernatural nature of creative power. This reflection of the artist and his mystery applies not only to the one depicted on the paper, but also the one who depicted him.

Lili Davenas


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