Bourdelle leaning on a plaster of Beethoven in front of the Bust of Ingres

This nitrocellulose negative is one of over 200 pictures taken circa 1901 in Brussels, at the sculptor Jef Lambeaux’s studio. They were taken prior to the creation of the bronze statue Monument to the Fallen, the Fighters and the Defenders of Tarn-et-Garonne 1870-1871 produced by the Petermann Foundry in Brussels. Commissioned by the Town of Montauban in 1895, the monument was erected in the sculptor's home town in 1902. This astonishing image captures the artist quite literally “at the heart” of his work. The extraordinary setting created by Bourdelle is an explicit reference to Auguste Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo. It uses the whiteness of the plaster and dramatic lighting to echo the expressionist shaping of the figures.

Stéphanie Cantarutti