Bather with Raised Arms

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.

October 1896

Birth of his son Lucien

In October 1896 Maillol and Clotilde's only son, Lucien, was born.