Aristide Maillol (1861–1944) is the most important French sculptor of the early modern era after Auguste Rodin. A major and influential figure who is both modern and timeless, Maillol created sensual art that embodies the values of clarity and balance of forms, making him a consummate artist of the classical tradition.

The exhibition brings together over 140 works, with both sculptures – including all the artist’s key works – and paintings: Maillol began his career as a painter, producing canvases of great quality that are still little known outside France. Also on display are decorative objects, tapestries designed by Maillol, and enchanting drawings. The presentation additionally incorporates paintings by contemporaries such as Paul Gauguin, Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard, revealing the closeness of Maillol’s relationship to them.

The great sculptor of the female figure

Alongside Rodin’s unbridled sculpture, imbued with the brilliantly emotional energy that enabled him to reinvent the genre for France and the 19th century in general, Maillol’s works appear more restrained and classical. Yet Maillol’s modernity lies in the striking way his figures are integrated into clear overall forms that – although it is not immediately apparent – are often based on a geometrical analysis of the body, and specifically the female form. While Rodin frequently created male figures, couples and entire groups of figures of both sexes as well, the ‘Cézanne of sculpture’, as Maillol is often referred to, remained the great sculptor of the (mostly unclothed) female figure. He masterfully condensed the female nude, his lifelong subject, ultimately endowing it with a powerful monumentality. While the early sculptures still fitted perfectly into the interiors painted by the Nabis and the spirit of that progressive group of artists, by the end of his career Maillol stands alone, a kind of Titan from another age.

The exhibition will be shown in the Chipperfield building and is organized by the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris, the Kunsthaus Zürich and La Piscine – Musée d’art et d’industrie André Diligent, Roubaix, with the exceptional partnership of the Fondation Dina Vierny – Musée Maillol.