Bourdelle produced around 80 likenesses of Ludwig van Beethoven between 1887 and his death in 1929. These variations on the face of the great German composer are all self-portraits in disguise. After some initial naturalistic attempts, the sculptor moved towards an increasingly synthetic image, stripped of all realism. This version wears no tie or clothes; just a synthetic, emblematic face.
In 1901, Bourdelle pushed his research to the limits of figuration with his Large Tragic Mask. Torment became torture, the pouting face became a monstrous mask, the eyes blind, indistinct globes. By deforming and subtracting, the sculptor delivers a grimacing face that is shapeless and poignant, in decomposition. The Polish critic Mécislas Golberg, moved by this monumental mask, saw it as a tipping point, “Beyond this mask, there are only two ways to go: nothingness or order.” A few weeks later, Bourdelle opted for order by returning to figuration...
Colin Lemoine
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