Description
Model created between 1906 and 1909, no bronze were cast during the lifetime of the artist. Proof part of the original entirely posthumous copies limited to 10. 7 authentic bronzes cast to date.
Our bronze is part of the first 3 bronzes cast, which were executed by Valsuani, at the request of the Bourdelle Museum and Mrs. Rhodia Dufet-Bourdelle (1911-2002) from 1967 and up to 1981, closing date of the Valsuani Foundry.
The archives of the Musée Bourdelle doesn’t make it possible to identify with precision the cast date of our bronze among the first 3 proofs executed by Valsuani; however the absence of numbering on our proof makes it possible to affirm that the cast is prior to the 1st of January 1968, date at which the numbering becomes mandatory (pursuant to Article 71-3, Appendix III of the General Tax Code and of the publication of application n° 67-454 of June 10th, 1967 relating to the law 6610 of January 6th, 1966).
The following 4 copies were cast later by Clémenti Foundry.
The Museum Bourdelle , Paris, owns in its collection a proof of the same model, cast by Clémenti in 1982 (MB BR 1238).
Exhibition:
Bourdelle Héraklès Archer Naissance d’une œuvre, Musée Bourdelle, Paris, October 1992, another proof of the same model presented nr 3
Literature:
– Emile-Antoine Bourdelle by Ionel Jianou and Michel Dufet, 3rd edition with the catalogue of sculptures completed and numbered, Collection The Great Sculptors, Arted Editions of Art, Paris, 1984, Héraclès Archer Study without arc listed on p. 104 under the number 392 (2 proofs)
– Bourdelle Héraklès Archer Naissance d’une œuvre by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, catalogue of the exhibition of the Musée Bourdelle , Editions Paris-Museums, 1992, another proof described at p. 72 at Nr. 3 and reproduced at p. 25, Fig. 15.