La Malaquais Gallery specializes in figurative sculpture from the end of the 19th centurye and the beginning of 20e century and will exhibit this year sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, Jane Poupelet, Charles Despiau, Pablo Picasso and an exceptional series of sculptures by Camille Claudel at the Salon Fine Arts La Biennale Paris from November 22 to 26, 2023.
The Malaquais Gallery, which hosts the Claudel Committee, created in 2019, is preparing a critical catalog of the artist's work. Over the years, the Malaquais Gallery has become a key figure in the artist's work through its demanding research and publications. Thanks to recent major discoveries, the gallery has been able to enrich the collections of several of the world's most important museums, such as the Museum of Western Art in Tokyo in 2021, the National Museum in Stockholm in 2022, and more recently the Art Institute of Chicago.
Trois sculptures rare of Camille Claudel will be exhibited at the show and will certainly create an event. Head of Imploring Woman in plaster, from the descendants of the sculptor's sister, astonishes with its power of expression and moves us, bringing us closer to the artist's creative intimacy. This presentation will echo the first American monographic exhibition on Camille Claudel, which will open at the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall and will continue at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in the spring of 2024.
The works of several generations of female sculptors, such as Camille Claudel, Jane Poupelet, Germaine Richier et Arlette Ginioux will be presented to cover the entire 20e century. Jane Poupelet was a very talented artist who must regain her rightful place: a collection of drawings and sculptures that include two important female figures from the 1920s will be exhibited. Germaine Richier, which is currently exhibiting at the Fabre Museum in Montpellier, a plaster cast from the 1940s is on offer.
Drawings of Pablo Picasso, Georges Dorignac and Gaston Lachaise will complete this beautiful set.
Galerie Malaquais distinguishes itself by acting as experts, researchers, and artisans rather than as merchants focused on absolute excellence. They have worked consistently with historians for 20 years. Their professional work, focused on the period between 1850 and 1950, positions them as pioneers of figurative sculpture.
They are particularly interested in Claudel's work and have produced a historical catalogue of his work, including a critical echo of the most recent writing by Reyne Marie in 2018. The latter has worked hard to make Camille Claudel's work known.
Camille Claudel's works are extremely rare, and the number of her sculptures is very limited compared to Rodin's. Today, she is part of a search for sculptures created by women who lived in an era when the art medium was extremely harsh toward women. This is a subject that particularly fascinates American museums. Major exhibitions on Camille Claudel are planned first at the Art Institute of Chicago and then at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in the fall.
The gallery's director, JB Auffret, has a personal history with Claudel, being the son of a sculptor whose father created a medal for the Hôtel de la Monnaie in Paris in 1969, at a time when no one was interested in the sculptress.
The Malaquais Gallery was first located on Quai Malaquais (6th arrondissement, Paris), then on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré (8th arrondissement, Paris), and is now housed in an elegant apartment in the Nouvelle Athènes district (9th arrondissement, Paris) and only receives visitors by appointment. In order to meet the expectations of collectors or sculpture enthusiasts, the gallery team develops a privileged and tailor-made relationship with each of them: from advice to expertise, including support in creating a sculpture collection or the contribution of its extensive documentary collection.
Malaquais Gallery | 14, rue Milton 75009 Paris | +33(0)1 42 86 04 75 | jb.auffret@galerie-malaquais.com | www.galerie-malaquais.com |by appointment.
Practical information
FINE ARTS LA BIENNALE PARIS
Grand Palais Ephémère – 2, Place Joffre, 75007 Paris
Open to the public from Wednesday 22 to Sunday 26 November 2023 / Press opening: Tuesday 21 November from 12 p.m. to 14 p.m. / Gala Dinner: Monday 20 November / Opening: Tuesday 21 November from 14 p.m. to 22 p.m. / www.fabparis.com
EmaLynnx
Legends: 1/ Camille Claudel (1864-1943) – L'Abandon, small model, 1886-1905 – Bronze proof, no. 13 – Sand cast – Publisher's stamp and numbering: EUG.BLOT / PARIS / 13 – Signed: Claudel – H. 43,1 cm – Provenance: Freeland Gallery, London; European private collection – Photo credit: Galerie Malaquais / photo: Frédéric Fontenoy-Alkama. 2/ Camille Claudel (1864-1943) – Head of the Imploring Woman, circa 1894 Plaster – H. 13,5 cm – Provenance: Camille Claudel’s Workshop – To Louise Claudel, wife of Massary, sister of the artist, then by descent – Photo credit: Galerie Malaquais / photo Frédéric Fontenoy-Alkama.
