AIMÉ-JULES DALOU | FEMME COUSANT (LA COUSEUSE) (WOMAN SEWING)

Formerly private collection, France

The terracotta model of the present Woman Sewing is in the collection of the Petit Palais (cat. no. 279). It is similar in composition to Dalou's La Brodeuse, of which he exhibited the plaster at the Salon of 1870, and which became his first true success. Due to this success, Dalou started concentrating more on intimate depictions of women, including nude studies of female bathers, veering away from his previous focus on large-scale monuments.

The Hébrard foundry acquired the rights for the Femme cousant from Dalou's heirs in January 1922. The present cast is one of the bronzes that were cast in that year. As a bronze cast of a plaster sketch model, La Couseuse exemplifies Dalou's vivid hand modelling.

RELATED LITERATURE

Jules Dalou (1838-1902), cat. Galerie Heim, Paris, 1965, no. 1; A. Simier and M. Kisiel, Jules Dalou, le sculpteur de la République. Catalogue des sculptures de Jules Dalou conserves au Petit Palais, cat. Petit Palais, Paris, 2013, no. 279