Maillol, a painter by training, was a self-taught sculptor who came to sculpture via woodcarving. He made many clay models throughout his career. Like his sculptures, they were preliminary stages of his major works.

This particular work is very similar to the artist’s first large figure, The Mediterranean, which found favour at the Autumn Salon of 1905. These little figurines constitute a repertoire of shapes to which he returned endlessly.

The simplicity of these terracotta statuettes is quite remarkable in the context of the early 20th century. Maillol treats the female body like a relationship of masses in an abstract spatial construction. His statuettes appeal to enthusiasts (including the donor in this instance, Jacques Zoubaloff) and decorative arts dealers, principally Ambroise Vollard, who produced bronze versions of some of them.

A. S.

City of Paris municipal collection's website

City of Paris municipal collection's website

The collections portal can be used to search the collections of Paris’s 14 municipal museums (approximately 336,000 works, including 43,000 belonging to the Petit Palais).

It is also possible to download around 12,000 images of the museum’s works free of charge.

Access the Museums of the City of Paris collections portal
Autre base documentaire

Extern databases

Discover a selection of databases online presenting works from the Petit Palais or documents concerning the history of the museum.