Virtual Tour

The birth of sculpture

Maillol’s first steps in sculpture were in bas-reliefs, which served as a transition between working on surfaces, as in painting and tapestry, and the volumetric work of sculpture. The artist discovered in sculpture the ease of execution and, above all, a freedom of invention that he had been lacking. His early terracotta pieces caught the attention of Ambroise Vollard, who put on an exhibition of Maillol’s work in 1902.

In the opening decade of the new century, Maillol found his own creative path in a return to a classical concept—inspired by the ancient art of pre-classical Greece—that sent him on a quest for an art of synthesis in which the fundamental elements were reason, harmony and proportion. As a consequence, he created a new canon of beauty, based more on the invention of forms than on the expressiveness of the subject. 

The Fountain, 1896
Relief in wood, 43 x 23 x 19 cm
Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol, Paris