Cécile’s Torso was conceived between 1927 and 1929 and holds a unique place in Alfred-Auguste Janniot’s œuvre.
Named after Janniot’s wife, Cécile, the sculpture was developed after Hommage à Jean Goujon, which the artist created in Rome. At the request of Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, this group was placed in front of
L’Hôtel du Collectionneur, one of the most visited pavilions of the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts
Décoratifs. The theme of this homage—The Three Graces—as well as the artist to whom it was dedicated, perfectly illustrate the guiding principles of Janniot’s work: a deep engagement with Antiquity, its themes, and its
proportions, revisited in the light of Renaissance sculptors, enriched by a newfound decorative refinement that heralded the advent of the Art Deco movement.

This tribute, so emblematic of the renewal of sculpture between the wars, reinterpreted classical figuration and brought Janniot considerable renown—though he remained closely associated with the term decorative. While 1925 laid the foundations of his sculptural approach, it was in 1931, with the monumental decoration of the Palais des Colonies, that Janniot transcended this reductive categorization. From then on, he was recognized as a master of monumental sculpture rather than merely a decorative artist.

Cécile’s Torso takes on its full significance within this artistic evolution, marking both an exploration and a
sculptural culmination. Janniot approached the female form in a new way—truthfully—breaking away from
decorative constraints to extract its essence. He studied the female body with a newfound rigor, eliminating the face, hair, arms, and legs, as if to strip away anything ornamental. At the 1929 Salon des Tuileries, critic Louis Vauxcelles acknowledged this artistic shift (Excelsior, May 10, 1929, p. 5):

«Janniot’s torso is of real beauty; this artist, having for some time wandered into a dead end, has finally understood that style is acquired only through fervent observation of nature; he has returned to truth.»

This bronze bears the mark of the Alexis Rudier foundry. Taken over by his son, Eugène Rudier, in 1897, the foundry produced only a few early casts contemporary to the artist, making such examples exceedingly rare.