First Bourdelle Retrospective in Seoul
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
The sculptures of French master sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, including his most famous ``Hercules, the Archer (Herakles, archer),'' will be displayed at an exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art, downtown Seoul from Feb. 29 to June 8.
A total of 123 of Bourdelle's works from 1885 to 1929, including 75 sculptures and 48 sketches and watercolor paintings, will be included in the exhibition. All the pieces are from the Musee Bourdelle in Paris, France.
``Hercules, the Archer,'' a sculpture he finished in 1909, is considered as Bourdelle's masterpiece. He depicted the powerful Hercules, a symbol of masculinity in Greek mythology, with his bow outstretched. The 248-centimeter sculpture of Hercules, which weighs 540 kilos, is shown in Seoul for the first time.
Also to be shown at the exhibit are eight pieces from Bourdelle's Beethoven series, including ``Tragic Mask of Beethoven (Beethoven de masque tragique).'' Huge sculptures of the ``Hannibal's First Victory (Premiere victoire d'Hannibal),'' and ``The Fruit (Le Fruit)'' will also be shown.
Outstanding pieces from the ``General Albert's Cenotaph (Cenotaphe du General Albert)'' include ``Victory (La Victoire)'' and ``Freedom (La Liberte)'' will be displayed. Drawings and sketches related to the sculptures will be displayed to enhance viewers' understanding.
Emile Antoine Bourdelle was born in 1861 in Montauban, southern France. At the age of 13, he worked as a wood carver in his father's shop. He learned drawing from the founder of the Ingres Museum in Montauban, and studied sculpture from an art school in Toulouse. He won a scholarship to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, when he was 24 years old.
Auguste Rodin was a great admirer of Bourdelle's works. In 1893, Rodin invited Bourdelle to become his assistant at the studio.
As one of the pioneers of 20th century monumental sculpture, Bourdelle was greatly influenced by symbolism and expressionism. Bourdelle studied the sculptures of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. He is known for his powerful and dynamic sculptures of male heroes. He declared that ``sculpture is to create objects,'' as opposed to the actual representation of human beings or nature.
He died at Le Vesinet, near Paris in 1929. Bourdelle's studios in Paris were turned into a museum, the Musee Antoine Bourdelle, in 1949.
While this is the first full-scale retrospective of Bourdelle's works in Korea, nine of Bourdelle's sculptures can be seen at the Ho-am Art Museum's Bourdelle Garden.
The Bourdelle exhibit is co-sponsored by Kids Korea Times, Seoul Museum of Art and Newsis. Tickets are 9,000 won for adults, 7,000 won for 13 to 18 year olds and 5,000 won for 7 to 12 year olds. Children below 7 years old, and senior citizens can get in for free.
The exhibit is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and weekends from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.