Louis Dejean

Guy Dejean, the brother of the artist, France;
by family descent;
the present owner

J. Baschet, Sculpteurs de ce temps, Paris, 1946, p.143-148 (illustrated)

Overall the condition of the plaster is very good. There is some wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age, including a few minor nicks, particularly around the proper right knee and the proper left elbow. It seems that the figure was once washed in a terracotta colour, which has now been covered with a white wash. There is a stable fissure to the base at the figure’s proper left hip. There are a few minor losses, particularly around the edges of the base. A wooden armature is visible at the underside.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This highly important plaster nymph by Dejean is the original macquette for the Muse alongée which sits alongside the central pool of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. The commission was one of the most significant of Dejean’s career and came to cement his reputation as a leading pupil of Rodin. It was the result of the most ambitious cultural program launched by the French Republic in the 1930’s: the construction of a new and purpose built Palais des Musées d'art moderne (Palace of the Museums of Modern Art). The concept had been devised by Louis Hautecoeur, conservator of the musée des Artistes vivants installé, situated in the Orangerie of the Palais du Luxembourg. The competition for the new complex, situated on the banks of the river Seine, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, brought over 128 proposals from leading architects, including Le Corbusier. Eventually awarded to Dondel, Aubert, Viard and Dastugue, the building constructed is an imposing classically inspired temple to modern art, with two symmetrical wings joined together by a peristyle and separated by a long pool of water. It is to the left of this pool that the final stone version of the present Muse is situated, alongside sculptures by Antoine Bourdelle, Léon Drivier and August Guénot. 

The commission for the Muse is recorded in detail in correspondence in the archives of the French Commerce and Industry Ministry (nos. F/12/12114 - F/12/12223). Dejean was first given the honour of the commission on 18 June 1936 in a letter which strictly stipulated the size, material (pierre d’Euville), subject and cost of the figure. On the 5^th November 1936, Dejean invited Hautecoeur to come and view the present macquette. The conservator was impressed with the result, noting, The beautiful figure of M. Dejean is moulded in plaster half the size of the execution [the final work in stone]. This figure, whose proportions are not unlike the Nymphs of the school of Goujon [the great French Renaissance sculptor], conforms along the broad lines of the French tradition. The present macquette is particularly elegantly conceived, exhibiting a monumental classicism which is reminiscent of works by Aristide Maillol. Note the particularly beautiful detail of the satyr mask modelled in the back of the seat.

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Duffet, La bande à Schnegg, Musée Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, 1974; J.-M. Pérouse de Montclos, Guide du patrimoine Paris, Paris, 1994; J. Barozzi, Paris de fontaine en fontaine, Paris, 2010, p. 113