Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is being renovated and is closed for a while. We are very pleased that we were allowed to borrow two beautiful classic 'park' statues from their collection, from their DepotOn the left you see Hesse (1937), a statue of Charles Despiau, a pupil and later friend of Rodin. On the right you see Venus Victrix (1914) by Auguste RenoirIt depicts Venus holding a golden apple that she won by being judged the most beautiful of three goddesses by Paris.
Venus Victrix (1916) | Auguste Renoir
Bronze
Weight: 189,6 kg, Height: 186 cm
Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (donated by A. Hartog in 1935)
Venus Victrix (1916), goddess of love, is depicted here in a victorious manner. Prior to the snapshot, Venus, Minerva, and Juno participated in a beauty contest. The apple in Venus's hand is the symbol of her victory. Renoir based this work on the Greco-Roman style. The bronze statue celebrates the beauty of the female body.
Pierre Auguste Renoir took lessons in the studio of de Gleyre from 1861, where he met Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. In the 60s, Renoir painted in the woods of Fontainebleau. During this period, Renoir also painted his first life-size figure pieces, inspired by the work of Courbet. From the mid-70s, Renoir painted scenes from modern life; in the 90s, he developed a 'softer' painting style. His scenes with young women and children were very popular. In addition to being a painter, Renoir was also a sculptor.
Assia (1937) | Charles Despiau
Bronze
Weight: 200 kg, height: 180 cm
Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (purchased in 1938)
According to Despiau, Assia (1937) is the epitome of the ideal woman. The place of man in nature and the appreciation of the human body were important themes in art in the 30s.
Charles Despiau began his career in 1891 at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris. Despiau devoted himself entirely to sculpture. During World War I, Despiau had to leave his work and enlisted in the army. After the war, Despiau joined the “Bande à Schnegg”, a group of sculptors founded by the brothers Lucien and Gaston Schnegg.