Torso of the Figure Called “Fruit”

Label TextBourdelle was the assistant of August Rodin and a teacher to Alberto Giacometti, both of whose works can be found in the Art Center’s collection. In some ways his art bridges the styles of these influential and dramatically different artists. Inspired by Rodin’s monumental and dynamic approach to the human figure, Bourdelle worked in bronze and on a large scale (this sculpture is a study for a much larger work). However, in a nod to the more experimental Modernist artists who were his early 20th century contemporaries, Bourdelle looked to the less realistic styles of Ancient Greece for his later compositions, leading to flattened, somewhat exaggerated figures like this one, in which the curve and stance of the body is formally elegant but not quite natural.
Exhibition History"Antoine Bourdelle, an Exhibition of Sculptures/Drawings," Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, N. Y., (circulated to: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Oct. 5 - 29, 1961; Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, N. Y., Nov. 13 - Dec. 9, 1961; Toledo Art Museum, OH, Jan. 5 - Feb. 8, 1962; St. Louis Art Museum, MO, Feb. 20 - Apr. 1, 1962; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, Apr. 20 - May 27, 1962; San Diego Art Museum, CA, June 8 - July 15, 1962; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, Aug. 1 - Sept. 8, 1962; Cincinnati Art Museum, OH, Oct. 5 - Nov. 4, 1962)
Published ReferencesDES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Dec. 2, 1973, ill. p.3B

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.41, b/w ill. pl.21, p.41

DMAC Bulletin, Jan./Feb. 1974, cover ill.

"Antoine Bourdelle, an Exhibition of Sculptures/Drawings," Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, N. Y., 1961, ref. no.56, p.11, cat. ill. p.77, pl. no.56

DimensionsOverall: 40 × 25 1/2 in. (101.6 × 64.8 cm)

Accession Number 1973.29

Classificationssculpture

CopyrightPublic Domain

Signed“By Bourdelle” back of mound, lower left);

InscriptionsE. Godard Fond. Paris 3 (back of figure lower left of thigh); inverted V and W

Edition3 / 10 (?)

MarksEstate Stamp (back of figure lower left of thigh)

ProvenanceBourdelle family, Paris; (Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York); James S. and Dorothy Schramm, Burlington, IA; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 1973]