Updated 15 May 2025
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
- 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
- 2021
- National Touring Exhibition of Western Art from the NMWA: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata / Western Art in Takaoka, Yamagata Museum of Art, 17 July 2021 - 27 August 2021, Takaoka Art Museum, 10 September-24 October 2021
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.