The theme of Sappho appeared in Bourdelle's work as early as 1887, in the form of a drawing inspired by a young Italian woman captured in a fleeting moment.
This sculpture greeted visitors at the entrance to the Pavillon du Livre at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs. The Greek poetess from the island of Lesbos, immersed in solitary reflection, appears to be lost in meditation upon her rock. Bourdelle has simplified every anatomical element. He has reduced the form to a geometric, almost archaic essentiality. The stiff folds of the dress form a polyhedron, and the lyre is schematised in an almost cubist way. Did you notice that the work fits perfectly into a triangle? All these elements contribute to the monumental and decorative character of a work that typifies art in the 1920s.
Colin Lemoine
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