Aimé-Jules Dalou

Descendants of Hébrard; Heim Gallery, London; Collection of Nadia Gordon, née Nerina; Heim Gallery, London

RELATED LITERATURE

Fusco and Janson 1980, pp. 106-107, 185; Paris 1986, p.357, fig. 388

La Brodeuse was the first expression of Dalou's interest in simple, modern life and would define the stylistic and thematic direction of his work for a decade. The seated seamstress became the sculptor's first public success when a life-size plaster version was lauded by the critics at the 1870 Salon and was subsequently purchased by the state.

The composition is full of beautifully observed informal detail. Perhaps the most charming motif, as Hunisak (Fusco and Janson, op.cit.) noted, is the sense of tension created by the woman's hands, which implies a taut thread. Gautier, a contemporary critic, wrote that the Brodeuse possessed 'in the naiveté of her attitude, in the straightforwardness of her features, in the purity of her forms, a penetrating attractiveness.'

The present bronze was cast after a terracotta maquette (no.194 in the collection of the Petit Palais). Dalou reserved a large group of esquisses for the Orphelinat des Arts in his will. The proceeds of the casts taken from these models were to enable the Orphelinat to care for Dalou's daughter Georgette after his death.

The Valsuani foundry was started by the brothers Claude and Attilio Valsuani who learned the trade while employed at the Hébrard foundry. While working for Hébrard, Claude became the Technical Director and in 1899, established his own foundry in Chatillon, casting mostly small works. Few casts of this model by Valsuani exist.