JOSEPH BERNARD
Lost-wax cast bronze with a brown patina showing green nuances.
H 20 7/8 in.
Base: 2,5 x 12,6 x 15,8 cm.
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"Jeune fille à la cruche" is one of Joseph Bernard’s signature works. It gives particularly eloquent expression to his pursuit of simplified sculptural forms, in which the rhythm of the body and the balance of volumes bring the figure to life.
The young woman is captured in a gently suspended step. The weight of the jug is counterbalanced by her free arm and the inclination of her head, while her softly bent legs and the subtle shift of her hips extend this interplay of balance. Beneath its apparent simplicity lies a carefully constructed composition, uniting the stability of the masses with the fluidity of movement. Smooth surfaces allow light to travel across the bronze, emphasising the continuity of its volumes, while the brown patina, enriched with green nuances, lends depth to its contours.
Developed from initial studies dating to around 1905–1907 and reworked in 1910, the model was presented at the 1912 Salon d’Automne under the title Jeune fille à la cruche. Its bronze edition by A. A. Hébrard contributed to the dissemination of Bernard’s work. The reduced version retains the presence and sculptural coherence of the monumental figure.
Provenance
Collection of Madame C. (Lausanne), who passed away in 1969 and owned two examples of this model.Exhibitions
Exhibition of related artworks:Joseph Bernard, 'Porteuse d'eau' 1912, bronze, height 175 cm, signed on the back of the base “J.Bernard” 1912 and bearing the foundry mark A.A.HEBRARD / PERDUE, Paris, Musée d’Orsay, inv. no. RF 3161;
Joseph Bernard, 'Girl with Pail', bronze, height 53.3 cm, signed and bearing the stamp “Cire Perdue / A.A. Hébrard” and the number 22, The Art Institute of Chicago, inv. no. 1943.1189.
Literature
“Exposition des œuvres de Joseph Bernard à l’Hôtel de la Revue ‘Les Arts’”, in Les Arts, 1 August 1914, pp. 16–32.Art & Industrie, November 1925, special issue, article “Les ensembles modernes”; the sculpture in the Musée d’Orsay collection is illustrated on p. 38.
Luc Benoit, “Joseph Bernard (1866–1931)”, in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1932, vol. 2, pp. 217–228.
Didier Chautant, Recherches sur la vie et l’œuvre de Joseph Bernard (1866–1931), sculpteur français, École du Louvre thesis supervised by Jacques Thirion, Paris, 1977.
René Jullian, Joseph Bernard, Fondation de Coubertin, Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, 1989, no. 146, pp. 298–302; the present cast cited on p. 298.
Alice Massé and Sylvie Carlier (eds.), Joseph Bernard 1866–1931. De pierre et de volupté, exhibition catalogue, Musée Paul-Dini, Villefranche-sur-Saône, 18 October 2020–21 February 2021, and La Piscine–Musée d’art et d’industrie André-Diligent, Roubaix, 20 March–20 June 2021, Snoeck, Ghent, 2020; entry by Valérie Montalbetti, “La Jeune fille à la cruche”, pp. 220–221.
Annick Lemoine and Juliette Singer, Le Paris de la modernité, 1905–1925, exhibition catalogue, Petit Palais, Paris, 14 November 2023–14 April 2024, Paris Musées, Paris, 2023, cat. no. 317, p. 312.
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