Charles Despiau

CHARLES DESPIAU (Mont-de-Marsan, 1874 - Paris, 1946)
"Apollo", 1937.
Bronze.
Signed.
With foundry stamp.
Exhibitions: "European sculpture in the 20th century", European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, 2014.
Reproduced in the catalogue of this exhibition, published by the Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes, 2014.
Dimensions: 120 x 40 x 24 cm. Weight: 49 kg.
Charles Despiau's Apollo has a slender waist and a robust torso. He gestures with both hands and holds a cloth over his right shoulder, as if coming out of the bath. This is a modern Apollonian version, which updates the canons of male beauty.
The sculptor Charles Despiau became one of the most prominent French figures of the interwar period. He trained at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure
of Decorative Arts, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in the workshop of
Louis-Ernest Barrias. Between 1907 and 1914 he also worked in Rodin's prestigious workshop, but the outbreak of the First World War forced him to abandon the execution of a piece for a monument dedicated to the memory of Puvis de Chavannes, "The Genius of Eternal Repose", which he had commissioned from his master. During those years he was associated with a group of sculptors gathered around Lucien Schnegg, such as An toine Bourdelle, Robert Wlérick, Léon-Ernest Drivier, François Pom pon, Louis Dejean and Alfred Jean Halou. However, it was not until 1927,
when, on the occasion of a major private exhibition at the Brummer Gallery in New York, Despiau achieved definitive success and recognition. Despiau's works can be found in numerous private collections around the world. As for museums, Despiau's works can be found in the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Musée de Mont-de-Marsan, as well as in numerous museums abroad, including the Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Algiers.