Aristide Maillol
Standing Bather
1899-1939
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Aristide Maillol
Standing Bather
1899-1939
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 26 in. H
Credit Line
Bequest of Blanche Adler
Object Number
1941.120
Standing Bather entered the collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art in 1941 with the title “Eve.” The mistaken identity probably occurred because Maillol had sculpted a similar figure holding an apple (a true Eve) just the previous year. In a sense, all of Maillol’s figures evoke an Edenic world of sun-drenched pleasure. The figure’s status as a mere bather does not lessen the feeling that she is imbued with some sort of archaic ritual significance, an impression reinforced by her rigid ceremonious bearing. The fullness and smooth perfection of Maillol’s female figures express the artist’s fascination with the fantasy of a Mediterranean paradise in a golden age.
Rodin: Expression & Influence
Matisse: Painter as Sculptor
A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940
John Rewald, "Maillol," (London, Paris, New York: Hyperion Press, 1939) p. 72.
"Aristide Maillol Sculpture," (London Paris: C&M Arts, 1997), cat. # 3.
de Margerie, Laure and Antoinette Le Normand-Romain. French Sculpture: An American Passion. Paris: Institut national d'histoire de l'art, 2023. ill, p. 326
