Bust of a Young Man
Aimé-Jules Dalou
1877
Medium
Patinated plaster
Dimensions
70 × 44 × 32 cm (27 1/2 × 17 3/8 × 12 5/8 in.)
Classification
bust/head
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
252737
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This compelling portrait of a studio model—composed in just 90 minutes during a demonstration at a London art school—testifies to Aimé-Jules Dalou’s skill at shaping clay. The artist did not speak English, and so his classes were essentially visual performances: he rapidly modeled a sculpture in clay over the course of a lesson and directed students to follow his lead. The French-born British sculptor Édouard Lantéri later recalled that Dalou “completely carried his students away with him. He kn...