Charles Despiau (1874-1948), Study, Bather

Charles Despiau (1874-1946)
Study, bather
Black pencil on paper
Signed with the stamp below right
36.5 x 25.5 cm

Charles Despiau was one of the most prominent French sculptors of the inter-war period, alongside Aristide Maillol and Antoine Bourdelle. Originally from Mont-de-Marsan where a museum is dedicated to him today, he joined Paris in 1891. Admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1895 in the workshop of the sculptor Louis-Ernest Barrias, Charles Despiau became emancipated quickly from formal education to train alone in contact with works kept in Parisian museums. He frequented in particular the rooms of the Louvre Museum devoted to sculpture from the 12th and 13th centuries as well as the Palais du Trocadéro where he soaked in Khmer art. Charles Despiau thus fits in with the artists of his time, engaged in modern issues.

Noticed at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts by Auguste Rodin while looking for gifted practitioners, Charles Despiau joined the master's workshop in 1907 (where he remained until 1914). An uncompromising artist who did not intend to bow to Rodin's style, Charles Despiau worked alongside him in a spirit of mutual recognition. The frequentation of the master gives him faith in him and awakens in the young sculptor the will to create his own style, operating a synthesis which reconciles ancient heritage, Rodinian influence and theories of La Bande à Schnegg.

Through research and analytical deconstruction, Charles Despiau achieves simple simplicity by favoring great rhythms and the play of light. This gives rise to a powerful sculpture where busts and full-length figures appear radically refined, reduced to their sole plastic presence.

Charles Despiau is exclusively concerned with the human figure. The practice of preparatory drawing remains quite isolated for the sculptor. The drawing that we propose is a sketch executed in haste representing a bather from the front where only the lower part of the face appears. Indeed, the artist's attention is more focused on the position of the arms of the figure which seem to come alive under his pencil.