Aristide Maillol
Aristide Maillol, born Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol, was a French artist who lived from 1861 to 1944. Though he worked with a variety of mediums, Maillol is most remembered for his monumental sculptures depicting the woman form.
At an early age, Maillol decided to become a painter and in 1881, he moved to Paris. By 1895, he was enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts and studied under well-known Academic artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Alexandre Cabanel. After some time, Maillol decided to abandon painting in the pursuit of more decorative arts. He shifted to creating and designing tapestries. Maillol opened up a tapestry workshop and gained much recognition for his designs.
The real stylistic inspiration for his early work came from the Nabis artists and their inspiration, Paul Gauguin and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. The Nabis were a group of French artists from the late nineteenth century whose work helped bridge the gap between Impressionism and Modern art. The movement was led by Paul Sérusier, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and Édouard Vuillard amongst others.
Maillol added a new medium to his repertoire and began creating small sculptures. By the turn of the century, issues with his eyesight forced Maillol to abandon his tapestries altogether, as it was too difficult for him to weave. He chose to focus instead on his sculpture works. Most of Maillol’s sculptures were large, almost monumental, and depicted women in classical-inspired poses. As opposed to Rodin, Maillol chose to use only the women’s bodies for his inspiration, eschewing emotion and both literary and historical references. The resulting work was the woman form presented in a clean, geometric, and eloquent aesthetic. This opened and inspired the way for more abstract sculptures.
By 1910, Maillol was an artist of renown. His work was quite popular and was highly sought out for public commissioned works, including a number of WWI memorials. In his later years, Maillol picked up painting again and started making woodcuts, though he remained devoted to his sculpture work. Aristide Maillol died in 1944 at 82 years of age in a car accident.
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