Aimé-Jules Dalou

Bronze sculpture of a seated nude woman bent over crying into her arms

Aimé-Jules Dalou
French 1838-1902
La Verite Meconnue(“Truth Revealed”), 1900
Bronze with brown patina
13 1/4 H. inches
Signed DALOU and inscribed Susse Fres Edt Paris Cire Perdue; approx.
The present model, known as La Vérité Méconnue or The Truth Revealed, belongs to a series of female nudes that Dalou produced between 1890 and 1900.

Dalou sculpted two versions of the composition. In the first version, the sitter’s hair is tied in a chignon and the mirror at her feet faces towards the front of the sculpture. In the second version the sitter’s hair isn’t tied and the mirror faces towards the back of the work.

The first version was only cast in one (20.5cm) size. The second version was cast in two sizes (14cm and 35cm). Both versions were cast by Susse Fres, Paris.

The present work is a cast of the second version in the larger size.

Aimé-Jules Dalou
French 1838 – 1902
Head of a Sleeping Baby (Tete d’enfant Endormi), 1891
Bronze, dark brown patina
Mounted on period marble base 2 3/4 inches
7 1/2 H. x 6 1/4 W. x 6 D. inches
Signed right rear: Dalou
Stamped right rear: cire perdue A.A. Hebrard

Tete d’enfant Endormi was modeled during Dalou’s exile in England. It was conceived as part of the terracotta monument commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her five grandchildren who died in infancy. The monument is located in a niche in the Private Royal Chapel at Windsor Castle as part of the Royal collection. The head of the baby was first exhibited as an independent work at the Paris Salon of 1891, over a decade after Dalou had returned to France. The gentle, naturalistic modeling and charming appearance of the sculpture made it a popular work for collectors and it was cast in bronze in two sizes.

Artist Description

Aime Jules Dalou was one of the most prolific and successful monument makers in France during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Dalou received his first commission for a public monument for the Royal Exchange in London having been forced into exile to England because of his left-wing political views. This commission was a major turning point in the artist’s career. When he returned to Paris after the amnesty of 1879-80, only monuments celebrating the greatest men of ideals of his era could completely satisfy him. In Paris during the 1890s a number of Dalou’s monuments were erected and inaugurated to commemorate distinguished individuals. Each of these individuals was someone with whom Dalou felt a particular artistic, social, or political affinity.

Reference: Aimé-Jules Dalou (1897-1902). Online exhibition catalogue. London: Bowman Sculpture, 2014. Web. 29 November 2014.