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Kunsthal Rotterdam opens exhibition by the French sculptor Maillol

Kunsthal Rotterdam presents a retrospective of French sculptor Maillol (1861-1944), on view 15 September 2012 to 10 February 2013.


Aristide Maillol, Two Young Girls, 1891. Oil on canvas. 59 x105 cm. Collection Musée-Maillol, Paris.

After an absence of one hundred years and with twenty monumental sculptures, Maillol is coming back to Rotterdam. Maillol’s first exhibition outside his native country was organised by the Rotterdam Art Circle in 1913, in addition to sculptures, the retrospective will include ten outstanding and never-before-exhibited drawings, and several early and late paintings and studies. Photographs, diary excerpts, texts and films will complete this portrait of the artist. Contrary to his contemporary, Rodin, who concentrated on creating male nudes, Maillol is known primarily for his monumental female figures. He examined many different positions, materials and forms, taking inspiration from early classical sculptors but combining this with a modern take on shape, rhythm and style. He was not necessarily searching for a perfect, natural representation of the female body, but rather for the ultimate power of expression through sculpture. The exhibition emphasises Maillol’s modernity in his time and how he, as a classical sculptor, has been drawn into the 21st century by way of his quest for modern imagery. This overview of Aristide Maillol’s work continues a Kunsthal tradition that began in 2003 of exhibiting sculptors rarely seen in the Netherlands such as Duane Hanson, Isamu Noguchi, Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti.

Kunsthal Rotterdam
Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341
3015 AA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
www.kunsthal.nl

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