Hedwig Woermann in Bourdelle’s studio

Hedwig Woermann (1879-1960) was Bourdelle's pupil from 1901 to 1903, long before he taught at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière. This “German female pupil”, whom Bourdelle portrayed in an eponymous sculpture (circa 1901), was one of the first women to join the sculptor's studio, where she assisted two other praticiens - Gaston Toussaint and Edwin Bucher. Dressed in a loose smock, she is posing in front of the Eve marble, a work that Bourdelle was creating for Rodin at the time. On the right, we can make out the template cast that served as a model. This photograph, taken in a space that is full of statues and bases, is an eloquent testimony to life in the studio.

Colin Lemoine