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Lot Essay
Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier's (d. 1905) first exhibition of a plaster bust entitled Said Abdallah de la tribu du Darfour in the 1848 Salon caused an immediate scandal not only for coinciding with the abolition of slavery in the French colonies but also for the novelty of his subject matter. The resulting sensation fuelled a fervent European interest in the artistic representation of The Other and simultaneously secured Cordier's place as the most celebrated ethnographic sculptor of the 19th Century.
In subsequent exhibitions the artist produced a remarkably high number of exotic and Orientalist works reconfirming his passion for ethnographic accuracy through tedious scientific study, which he later supplemented with the use of photography and daguerreotypes of his North African models. Among his earliest exhibited works was a patinated bronze bust of a North African woman, which was fittingly titled Vénus africaine by critic Thèophile Gautier. At London's 1851 Exposition, Cordier paired Vénus africaine with a similarly- decorated bronze cast of his critically acclaimed Said Abdallah de la tribu du Darfour. The pair was purchased by Queen Victoria and now resides at Osborne House. They were recently shown in an exhibition of the artist's work at New York's Dahesh Museum.
His instantaneous success, paired with his fascination with foreign races, not only conveyed his ideal of the "universality of beauty," but also inspired other artists, notably Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, to follow suite. Additionally, his 1848 and 1851 exhibitions secured him a highly lucrative commission with the Paris Museum of Natural History, for whom he produced portrait busts to adorn their ethnographic gallery from 1851 to 1866.
Another example of Vénus africaine was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 1997, lot 397 (£36,700).
In subsequent exhibitions the artist produced a remarkably high number of exotic and Orientalist works reconfirming his passion for ethnographic accuracy through tedious scientific study, which he later supplemented with the use of photography and daguerreotypes of his North African models. Among his earliest exhibited works was a patinated bronze bust of a North African woman, which was fittingly titled Vénus africaine by critic Thèophile Gautier. At London's 1851 Exposition, Cordier paired Vénus africaine with a similarly- decorated bronze cast of his critically acclaimed Said Abdallah de la tribu du Darfour. The pair was purchased by Queen Victoria and now resides at Osborne House. They were recently shown in an exhibition of the artist's work at New York's Dahesh Museum.
His instantaneous success, paired with his fascination with foreign races, not only conveyed his ideal of the "universality of beauty," but also inspired other artists, notably Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, to follow suite. Additionally, his 1848 and 1851 exhibitions secured him a highly lucrative commission with the Paris Museum of Natural History, for whom he produced portrait busts to adorn their ethnographic gallery from 1851 to 1866.
Another example of Vénus africaine was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 1997, lot 397 (£36,700).