Le Paysan (The Peasant) thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Le Paysan (The Peasant)

Statuette
about 1897-9 (cast)
Artist/Maker
Susse Freres (founders)
Dalou, Aimé-Jules (sculptor)
Place of origin
Paris (made)

Dalou was actively involved in the commune in Paris of 1871 (the brief but influential "dictatorship of the proletariat" in the city) and fled later that year as a political exile to London where he remained until 1880. With the exception of two works (including this piece), all of his sculpture at the V&A, dates from this period when Dalou had a profound impact on the development of British sculpture.

Back in Paris, in 1889 Dalou started planning a 'monument to the workers' to commemorate their toil and heroism and he worked on this project on and off until his death. This bronze is a reduced version of a full-scale figure (versions in bronze in the Musée d'Orsay; and, in plaster, in the Petit Palais, Paris) which were sculpted as part of this project. The V&A's small bronze 'Worker with a shovel' (Museum number A.31-1971) was also created as part of this project.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Bronze
Object type
Statuette
TitleLe Paysan (The Peasant) (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Statuette, bronze of a workman (called a peasant), by Aimé-Jules Dalou, French, about 1897-9
Physical description
Figure of a man standing with his legs slightly apart on a base that has been modelled to resemble uneven earthy ground. The man looks down and to his left, and he is rolling up his right sleeve with his left hand. His shirt is open at the neck and he wears clog type shoes. Between his legs on the ground is a pick, and he is standing in front of a low rock. Signed and stamped.
Dimensions
  • Whole sculpture weight: 11.64kg
  • Height: 59cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'DALOU' (On the back of the rock)
  • 'Susse Edn. Paris' (Stamped on the back of the base)
Gallery label
(March 2007)
This statuette is a reduced version of a figure from the Monument to the Workers, which the sculptor Dalou worked on after his return to Paris.

Dalou (1838-1902) was the son of a glove maker and initially trained in drawing at the Petit École in Paris. There he was encouraged to do sculpture. In 1854 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years. He was known for his left-wing political sympathies and was involved in the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1871. After his overthrow he was forced into exile in London, where he lived from 1871 until his return to Paris in 1879. In London he frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was given a teaching appointment at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), where he had a profound effect on the development of British sculpture.
Credit line
Presented to the V&A by Mme. Susse in memory of her husband André
Object history
Presented to the Tate Gallery by Mme Susse in memory of her husband André in 1963. Transfer from the Tate to the V&A in 1979 (written on in 1993).
Subject depicted
Peasant
Summary
Dalou was actively involved in the commune in Paris of 1871 (the brief but influential "dictatorship of the proletariat" in the city) and fled later that year as a political exile to London where he remained until 1880. With the exception of two works (including this piece), all of his sculpture at the V&A, dates from this period when Dalou had a profound impact on the development of British sculpture.

Back in Paris, in 1889 Dalou started planning a 'monument to the workers' to commemorate their toil and heroism and he worked on this project on and off until his death. This bronze is a reduced version of a full-scale figure (versions in bronze in the Musée d'Orsay; and, in plaster, in the Petit Palais, Paris) which were sculpted as part of this project. The V&A's small bronze 'Worker with a shovel' (Museum number A.31-1971) was also created as part of this project.
Bibliographic references
  • Caillaux, H. Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902) Paris, 1935, pp.63-73, 146-7 repr. pl.10
  • Bilbey, Diane with Trusted, Marjorie, British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2002, cat. 380, p. 250
  • Alley, R. Tate Gallery. The foreign paintings and sculpture, London 1959, p.48
  • Cadet, Pierre, Susse Freres: 150 years of Sculpture, Paris, 1992, pp. 47-52, fig 84
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.9-1993

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Record createdSeptember 2, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115955/le-paysan-the-peasant-statuette-dalou-aimé-jules/
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