Bourdelle Museum and workshop in Paris (by kerouac2)

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I don't know if a whole lot of people outside of France know the name Antoine Bourdelle, but if you have visited France you have almost certainly seen some of his sculptures. He learned his trade under a number of master sculptors in the late 19th century and worked with Auguste Rodin from 1893 to 1908. His works are scattered all over the country, since he was a creator of monuments, but he also did some busts in the Comédie Française, helped to design and decorate the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, and you can see some of his monumental statues at the Palais de Tokyo and in some churches, but also in Buenos Aires, Osaka and Martigny.

The advantage of going to the Musée Bourdelle is that you can see work versions in plaster of a lot of the main sculptures and in some cases a number of variations to show the creative process. The museum first opened in 1949 in Bourdelle's old workshops where he worked until his death in 1929 but it was enlarged in 1961 and then enlarged again in 1992. Since it is a municipal museum operated by the city of Paris, there is no charge to visit.

There is a formal sculpture garden in front of the main building.





The really big stuff is mostly inside, though.





I had the museum to myself.

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There was a garden in back, too, but I had other stuff to see first.





So, here is where Bourdelle created his stuff.





I kept glancing out of the windows.





Sculpting apparently uses quite a bit more than a hammer and chisel. This is just a very small selection of his tools.



In the next room, you could touch anything you liked. That is pretty rare.

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And then the garden...











Clearly there was more garden than I thought, because it continued on through the building.

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It is often easy to imagine the monuments for which these statues were created.





This equestrian statue was positively huge.







My head barely came up to the horse's belly.





I may have been (almost) alone at this place, but I don't think I have ever seen so many cameras in every corner of the museum.

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I went to the upper terrace to see what was there.



Most of the busts up here were of celebrities of the time -- actors, artists, architects, etc.





               

               

Some of the panels that can be seen on the front of the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (which is on avenue Montaigne) can be seen here.







The area surrounding the museum sort of shatters the illusion of being in the 1920's.

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I'm not even sure if this section was open, but I did not try to enter.

Anyway, I thought the Musée Bourdelle was a pretty nice place, and if this were not Paris, where there seems to be an infinite number of things to see, I would feel that it is pretty disgraceful to have only seen this now after living here for more than 40 years. I know that the similar Musée Zadkine is only a block or two away, so I'll try to go there next time.

[htmb]

Kerouac, this is very interesting. I'd love to visit one day. I'm embarrassed to say I stayed right around the corner at the Tim Hotel in 2014, but don't remember ever hearing about this museum. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[fumobici]

I've never heard of this museum either. It looks quite fascinating, but I have a strange reaction to this artist's work. Some of it I adore and some of it I just detest. Like it was the work of a collection of different sculptors and not one.

[bixaorellana]

I have to echo Fumobici's words, but will admit that whole "afternoon of a faun" era of art can sometimes make me suppress giggles.

Still, a great part of his work is truly excellent and some, such as the equestrian piece is monumentally impressive. Also, the look at where he worked & the sheer amount of his output is fascinating.

Great thread -- I'd definitely visit the Bourdelle Museum if I had a chance.

[nycgirl]

It is indeed unusual to be able to touch materials in an art museum. I can hardly remember the last time I've seen that.

What a gem. Paris certainly has an embarrassment of riches.

[bixaorellana]

Revisiting this thread now that I have access to a full-sized computer & solid internet connection. It's even more enjoyable with the time to really look at it, and the photographs are excellent. It's not easy to capture the feel and scale of art in a photo, but you've achieved that here, plus so many are completely satisfying on the pure photographic level. In particular, I love several of the equestrian ones -- the tight look straight up at the horse's chest, head & his rider, the wonderful shot through his forelegs at the garden, and the one of his head and body with the brick arch and the modern buildings as backdrop.

[kerouac2]

Although the museum is currently undergoing refurbishment and a few areas are closed off, I found it as lovely as on my other visits.

I only took a few pictures because I didn't want to duplicate what was already here.