Updated 04 March 2024
On Display Permanent collection
Head of Apollo with Neck
Date | 1900 |
---|---|
Materials and Techniques | bronze |
Size(cm) | 50 x 22 x 23 |
Inscriptions | Signed (in monogram) right edge of neck: AB, Inscribed interior top of base: BY BOURDELLE; Foundry mark with cast number back of base: Susse Fondeur Paris No5 |
Credit Line | Purchased |
Category | Sculptures |
Collection Number | S.1969-0001 |
This work created in 1900 is the most important expression for Bourdelle's artistic formation. Bourdelle was Rodin's assistant after 1893 and while greatly influenced by his teacher, Bourdelle also turned a critical eye on Rodin's sculpture. Bourdelle, who excelled in the expression of human anguish and love as he strove for a highly spiritual harmony, saw Rodin's sculpture as striving for a more phenomenal form. The firm facial features and hard angular composition lend this work a strong rational character, at the same time that the piece reveals the lively sensibilities of a young sculptor breaking new ground. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 141)
Provenance
Bourdelle Family, Paris; Purchased by the NMWA,1970.
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. 75
- 1973
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Cultural Center of Kochi Prefecture, Kochi, 28 October 1973 - 25 November 1973, cat. no. 63
- 1974
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Cultural Center of Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, 13 October 1974 - 10 November 1974, cat. no. 61
- 1974
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Saga Prefectural Museum, Saga, 16 November 1974 - 1 December 1974, cat. no. 61
- 1975
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Yamagata Museum, Yamagata, 1 November 1975 - 30 November 1975, cat. no. 61
- 1976
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Tottori Prefectural Museum, Tottori, 9 October 1976 - 7 November 1976, cat. no. 65
- 1978
- [Tour Exhibition] Masterpieces from the National Museum of Western Art, The Art Center of Oita Prefecture, Oita, 20 December 1978 - 31 January 1979, cat. no. 74
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Ibara Municipal Denchu Art Museum, 10 April 1990 - 23 April 1990, cat. no. 41
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Cultural Center of Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu, 28 April 1990 - 13 May 1990, cat. no. 41
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Cultural Center of Toyota City, 19 May 1990 - 3 June 1990, cat. no. 41
- 1991
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Hachinohe City Museum of Art, 28 September 1991 - 27 October 1991, cat. no. 41
- 1991
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Tendo City Museum of Art, Tendo, 1 November 1991 - 24 November 1991, cat. no. 41
- 1992
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Urasoe Art Museum, 3 November 1992 - 7 December 1992, cat. no. 41
- 1995
- Modern Japanese Art-Between the East and the West, Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, 1 November 1995 - 30 November 1995, cat. no. 120, col. repr.
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 109
- 2007
- Gods and Nature: The Essence of European Art from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Himeji City Museum of Art, 4 November 2007 - 2 December 2007, cat. no. 44
- 2007
- Gods and Nature: The Essence of European Art from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Matsumoto City Museum of Art, 11 December 2007 - 3 February 2008, cat. no. 44
- 2012
- Traces of Hands: Sculpture and Drawings by Rodin and Bourdelle from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 3 November 2012 - 27 January 2013, cat. no. 31
Bibliography
- 1971
- Bulletin Annuel du Musée National d’Art Occidental, No. 4 (1969), 1971, Nouvelles acquisitions, par Chisaburoh F. Yamada, p. 7. Nouvelles acquisitions (catalogue). pp. 12-13. repr.
- 1971
- Anazawa, Kazuo. Masque d' Apollon de Bourdelle. Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 4 (1969), 1971, pp. 16-23. fig. 1. (in Japanese)
- 1992
- The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p. 51, cat. no. 41, col. repr
- 1995
- Modern Japanese Art: Between the East and the West (exh. cat.). National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, ed. [Nagasaki], Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, 1995, pp. 125, 143, 151, cat. no. 120, col. 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. 141, 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. 141, repr.
- 2021
- When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 118, 183, cat. no. Y3_17 | T3_44, col. repr.