Dying Centaur in the studio

The Dying Centaur (1911-1914) is part of a fresco – Death of the Last Centaur (1911-1913) – that Bourdelle created for the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Like Hercules the Archer, the Dying Centaur is the result of boundless propensity for synthesis, born of a compelling desire to structure shapes. Photographed in the silent studio, absorbed in his solitude, the Centaur becomes the artist's surrogate, prey to doubt and melancholy, far from the tumult of the world. Bourdelle saw a reflection of himself in the figure of the Centaur. This explains why his widow Cléopâtre laid Bourdelle's remains at the foot of the Centaur after his death.

Colin Lemoine