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Hercules the Archer (1909) is a sculpture by Antoine Bourdelle which now exists in multiple versions. It was commissioned by financier and philanthropist Gabriel Thomas in April 1909, as a unique work. Bourdelle modeled it in clay over the summer of 1909, for which his friend Paul Gustave André Doyen-Parigot, a captain in the French Army, posed.[1] The sculpture was cast in gilt-bronze by Eugène Rudier, and exhibited at the National Society of Fine Arts in 1910. Its dimensions are 2.50 m × 2.40 m.
The second version was developed around 1923. It differed from the first version with additions of reliefs on the rock right, representing the Lernaean Hydra and the Nemean Lion. Finally a banner along the base of the sculpture and the monogram completed the work.
Background
3D model of Antoine Bourdelle's statue, Herakles the Archer.Detail, Musée Antoine Bourdelle, ParisCopy at Trammell Crow Center sculpture garden, Dallas, Texas
Bourdelle was inspired by the Labours of Hercules, and chose the sixth of them: the extermination of the Stymphalian birds. In the Greek mythology, the birds of this lake were monstrous in size, feeding on human flesh, which infested the woods surrounding the lake Stymphale, in Arcadia. Using their sharp-pointed feathers bronze (according to one of several versions) as arrows, to kill men and beasts, and devour them.
For the creation of this work, Antoine Bourdelle asked his friend the captain Doyen-Parigot (1854–1916), whom he had met at the "Saturday Rodin" to pose for him. This military man was an accomplished sportsman. The deployment of the body and muscle tension required by archery highlight the muscles of the model. Bourdelle modified the head of the model at the request of his friend who had requested for anonymity.[2]
Bourdelle did several studies to produce a small sculpture, which he considered as completed in 1909. During the visit to his workshop, the patron Gabriel Thomas was fascinated by this sculpture and commissioned a monumental sculpture for the garden of his home in Bellevue.
International success
In 1914, Antoine Bourdelle became aware of the injury suffered because of the exclusivity granted to Gabriel Thomas. Indeed, after the Venice Biennale where Bourdelle had presented a cast of Hercules the Archer, he was forced to refuse to sell a bronze statue. Seeing Bourdelle's disappointment, Thomas agreed to end his exclusivity and allow Bourdelle to make further copies. The first new sculpture went to Sweden in 1920. Thereafter, Thomas made a new bronze which remained in his family until it was sold in 1991 to Drouot-Montaigne, this work is now in Tokyo.
After Thomas' agreement to concede his rights, a copy was given in 1916 to the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. In 1920, the museum Waldemarsudde of Stockholm bought the first copy of Thomas. In 1923, copies were sold to museums in Brussels, Prague and New York. In 1925, the city of Toulouse provided a Hercules statue for its sports museum. In 1926, the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris bought a Hercules (it is now at the Musée d'Orsay). In 1927, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon had a copy in turn. There are now a number of further versions in museums and cities.
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