Charles Despiau

Overall the condition of the bronze is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The black patina has rubbed in a few areas, in particular at the high points of the sache at the back and at the back of the proper left arm and elbow. There is a reddish and greenish colour and some dirt to the underside of the sache at the back, and also to some of the other crevices, notably in the upper right armpit. There are various visible original casting lines from the plaster mould. There are a few scratches to the proper left arm. There is some dirt to the base. There are a few small lacunae, including to the proper right thigh.
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Despiau's Apollo is widely regarded as being the artist's seminal work. Commissioned by the French Government for the 1937 Exposition Universelle, the 5.5 metre high final version was intended to dominate the terrasse of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

The Apollo stands calm and proud; an exemplar of youth, health and masculinity. Recalling the totemic central statue of Apollo from the pedimental group adorning the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the model is fundamentally indebted to classical prototypes. Like the Olympian statue, Despiau's Apollo was conceived to stand as protector over the Palais de Tokyo, the sanctuary of modern painting and sculpture.

The sculptor agonised over this prestigious commission, conducting numerous sittings with various young men, until he eventually found the ideal model in a Lieutenant Aviator in the French Air Force. However, due to his perfectionism and the advent of war, the statue was never completed, and was known only from various sketch versions (each of which differ in various respects). It was nevertheless celebrated by contemporaries, with the critic Georges Waldemar describing it as 'a healthy mind in a healthy body: [the] living image of eternal youth, the statue of Apollo is the culmination of Despiau's work... It should be regarded as his artistic testament. This work, which renews the miracle of Greek art under the pearl-grey sky of the Île-de-France, is the most beautiful present a sculptor could create for his country. Despiau's title of glory stands facing the hostile powers that threaten us, the protective statue of this beneficent god' (G. Waldemar, 1947, as quoted in Amann, op. cit., p. 55).

The bronze was cast by Valsuani, under the direction of Paul Belmondo, in an edition of only six, circa 1947, just after the artist's death. The decision to cast the figure in bronze was taken by a group of Despiau's friends, using what they believed to be the final version of the model (Elliott, op. cit., p. 122). Cast 1/6 is in the possession of the Musee national d'art modern, Centre Pompidou (inv. no. AM 1122 S; on loan to the Musée Despiau-Wlérick (Mont-de-Marsan). The present sculpture has a beautiful black patina, characteristic of the Valsuani foundry.

Charles Despiau was one of the leading lights of French early 20th-century sculpture. A student of Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841-1905) and an assistant of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), he developed a distinctive classicising style, similar to that of his contemporary, Aristide Maillol. Large figurative compositions such as the present Apollo are rare within Despiau's oeuvre since much of his time was occupied with creating his portrait busts, which were in high demand.

RELATED LITERATURE
A.H. Amann (ed.), Charles Albert Despiau 1874-1946, cat. Musée Municipal de Mont-de-Marsan, Mont-de-Marsan, pp. 55-57, no. 70; C. Roger-Marx (ed.), Charles Despiau, sculptures et dessins, exh. cat. Musée Rodin, Paris, 1974, no. 98; P. Elliott, After Rodin. French Figurative Sculpture 1900-1940 from the Marjon Collection, London, 2013, pp. 122-123, no. 60

The Museu Europeu d'Art Modern, Barcelona (MEAM)

The Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (European Museum of Modern Art) is one of Barcelona’s hidden gems, situated in an elegant 18^th-century palace in the heart of the city’s old town, El Born. Founded for the promotion of 20^th and 21^st-century figurative sculpture and painting, the museum houses an outstanding and growing collection of contemporary art. Each year it hosts the Figurativas Painting and Sculpture Awards, which brings together representations of the human form by contemporary artists from across the globe.

The following lots are a carefully curated selection of highlights from the Museum’s collection of 19^thand 20^th-century sculpture. Prominent amongst them is a series of elegant Classicising and Romantic marbles, led by Paul-Jean-Baptiste Gasq’s The Kiss (lot 138) and Giuseppe Gambogi’s Three Nymphs on a Rock (lot 128). These works evidence the belle époque fascination with the idealised human form, combined with wistful and sometimes exotic subjects. Historicism is represented in the striking and dynamic form of Victorien Tournier’s Le Guet (The Watch) (lot 136). Dalou’s figures of workers (lots 143-145) meanwhile evidence the contrasting interest in social and genre subjects around the turn of the century. In Auguste-Henri Carli’s Young Woman Playing Pipes (lot 142) we can observe a classicising nude with bucolic overtones, themes which concerned European sculptors throughout the first three decades of the 20^th century. The influence of Rodin is felt in numerous of the sculptures, but particularly Alfredo Pina’s male nudes (lots 133-134).

The divergent movement towards a modernist aesthetic is witnessed in Charles Despiau’s magnificent Apollo. Despiau was one of a number of leading students of Rodin, who sought a new route for sculpture in contrast to his master’s expressive style. The Apollo is a quintessentially 1930’s figure, a rare bronze cast from Despiau’s original model, which was designed to stand in watch over the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, inaugurated in 1937. With its totemic pose and simplified physiognomy, the Apollo is a simultaneously classical and modern figure. Other works in a modernist style include Milly Steger’s Naiad and Fritz Klimsch’s Nostalgia.

Each of the sculptures in the catalogue were exhibited in Una mica d’escultura, si us plau! L’escultura europea del segle XX at MEAM, a dedicated exhibition of the Museum’s collection of European 19^thand 20^th-century sculpture.