Antoine Bourdelle in a studio

This photograph was taken around 1916 in one of the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle's studios, located at the end of the former Impasse du Maine (now rue Antoine-Bourdelle). The studio, where the sculptor both lived and worked, is particularly busy, flooded with overhead light and full of people, including the artist, his wife Cléopâtre, their daughter Rhodia, a praticien and a moulder. Completed sculptures stand among works in progress, plasterwork mingles with clay, bases stand beside pots, dust vies with noise: this was the industrious, multi-faceted reality of a sculptor's studio at the beginning of the 20th century. With its distinctive grain, this photograph perfectly illustrates the words of Auguste Rodin in 1909, during an interview about Bourdelle: “It is wonderful to see this artist, this worker, this man of action, inspire action, life and enthusiasm in all the people he likes to surround himself with, to whom he likes to talk, communicating his inner fire to everyone, be they women, children, models, students or companions.”

Colin Lemoine