Sculpture group and bust for the Nice exhibition (1878)

Overview

In December 1877 and January 1878 Marie, then three months into her work at the Académie Julian, arranged with Julian to have a piece of sculpture shown at the art exhibition opening at Nice on 15 January 1878. The diary calls it first "un groupe de sculpture" (076.0433) and later, when it arrives, "le buste que je dois exposer" (077.0202). Whether these are one object whose scale changed or two projects, whether she modelled it, and whether it was exhibited are all unanswered in the paragraphs the project has checked. Nothing survives or is reproduced.

Marie and this work

On 19 December 1877 (076.0433) she writes: "Le 15 du mois prochain s'ouvre une exposition d'arts à Nice. J'enverrai un groupe de sculpture." That evening she asks for a private interview with Julian, closes the door, gets his promise of secrecy and tells him everything. What she says (076.0434) is: "Monsieur, voilà, c'est une petite lâcheté, et j'ai compté sur vous. C'est pour faire rager des amies, il y en aura de malades." The scene continues with reassurance about her talent (076.0435-0438). The wording -- a "petite lâcheté", a secret kept from others -- suggests that the sculpture was not wholly her own work, or at least that someone else would carry it out, but Marie does not spell this out and the project does not assert it.

On Christmas Day 1877 (077.0022): "Julian est monté et nous avons arrêté les conditions de la sculpture que j'enverrai à l'Exposition de Nice." On 15 January 1878 (077.0202-0203): "On a apporté le buste que je dois exposer. Il ne plaît pas à ma famille. Air mécontent et moi malade d'agacement. Le pauvre artiste ne savait que dire et Paul qui n'est pas dans le secret qui lui demandait comment lui trouvait le buste pour m'attirer des compliments." So there was an "artiste" who brought it, and her brother Paul was not in the secret. Finally, on 27 January (077.0437), the exhibition having already opened, she summons the count d'Aspremont, president of the Exposition de Nice, and he promises "de recevoir mon buste malgré l'ouverture". She notes "Voilà qui est arrangé." (077.0438). No later paragraph says whether it was hung, or what it represented.

References in Diary

Open questions

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