Herakles the Archer

1884–1929 · Virkested

Paris

1893–1908

Employed by: Auguste Rodin

1908

Breaks with Rodin and sets out on his own

In 1908 Bourdelle left Rodin’s studio and set out on his own: the paths of teacher and pupil finally parted. He was satisfied neither by the pompous style of Napoleon III’s Second Empire nor by the naturalistic methods of Rodin.

1909

“Hercules the Archer” shown at the Salon

In 1909 Bourdelle exhibited a new work, “Hercules the Archer”, at the annual Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The statue’s desperate tension and dynamism stay within the frontality of ancient art and echo the Heracles from the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina, around 500 BC.

1909

Employed by: Académie de la Grande Chaumière

1909–1929

Twenty years of teaching at the Grande Chaumière

From 1909 to 1929 Bourdelle taught at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière; his students included Germaine Richier, Alberto Giacometti, Margaret Cossaceanu, Isaac Frenkel and Adaline Kent.