Rosita

c. 1890/1899 · Sculpture

Scheda

1889
Friendship with Bourdelle
Poorly received in Gérôme's class, Maillol moved to Adolphe Yvon's life-drawing class, where he met Achille Laugé, who, as he put it, turned him onto the right path. He then got to know Antoine Bourdelle, who helped him in 1889 when he fell into financial difficulty.
1892
Meets Paul Gauguin
Maillol's early painting showed the influence of Puvis de Chavannes; he joined the Nabis and mixed with Bonnard, Vuillard and Maurice Denis. His meeting with Paul Gauguin in 1892 proved decisive.
1893
A tapestry workshop in Banyuls
Gauguin encouraged his growing interest in decorative art, and in 1893 Maillol opened a tapestry workshop in Banyuls, whose technical and artistic quality earned him recognition for renewing the art in France. The medieval tapestries of The Lady and the Unicorn at the Musée de Cluny provided the spark.
1895
First terracottas: the turn to sculpture
In 1895 Maillol began making small terracotta sculptures, and within a few years sculpture had displaced his tapestry work. It was failing eyesight that drove him to sculpture, and by some accounts he first showed his works to the public in 1894.
July 1896
Marries Clotilde Narcis
In July 1896 Maillol married Clotilde Narcis, one of the employees of his tapestry workshop.