Updated 16 April 2025
On Display Forecourt
Hercules the Archer
| Date | 1909 (model) |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 250 x 240 x 90 |
| Inscriptions | Signed, dated and titled right front of base: HERAKLES HPAKLHS / BOURDELLE / 1909; Foundry mark with cast number left side of base: No8 / SUSSE. FONDEUR. PARIS./(c) BY BOURDELLE |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1966-0002 |
This work which immortalized the name of Bourdelle takes as its subject one of the "twelve labors" of the hero Heracles from Greek mythology. This sculpture captures the instant of the arrow's release as Heracles pulls back his bow with all of the strength of his powerful body in his effort to shoot the voracious birds Stymfalides. The tension coursing through his brawny muscular body is filled with a wonderful spiritual energy when compared to the lively physical forms of Rodin's figures. This work was extremely well received when it was entered in the 1910 Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The critic Charles Maurice praised the work with the comment "Realism extended to the realm of Idealism." (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 142)
Exhibition History
- 1968
- Bourdelle, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 7 July 1968 - 25 August 1968, Kyoto National Museum, 8 September – 27 October 1968, cat. no. 12
- 1996
- [Exhibition for Children] “What were the Sculptures Made for?”, Tokyo National Museum, 2 July 1996 - 1 September 1996, cat. no. 10
Bibliography
- 1968
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 2 (1967), 1968, Catalogue of the New Acquisitions. pp. 100-101, no. S-72. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 142, repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 142, repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 139, col. repr.