Biography

His work as a tapestry maker affects Maillol's sight and he is forced definitively to abandon this work. He dedicates himself exclusively to sculpture. He makes pottery that his friends Bonnard, Vuillard and Renoir admire to such an extent that they depict them in some of their works. Vuillard shows Maillol's sculptures to Ambroise Vollard, who buys some of them. Even though he sells pieces, the artist's financial situation is still precarious. Maillol produces many statuettes, mainly in clay. He stops making sculptures from wood and starts using bronze to embody his ideas.

He takes part in a group exhibition in the Berthe Weill's gallery in 1902, organised by the Catalan merchant Pere Manach. Vollard organises his first individual exhibition with 33 works on Rue Lafitte. Octave Mirbeau praises it and buys some statuettes. Maillol starts a large statue, which will become Mediterranean.

In 1903, Maillol exhibits a plaster relief work in the Nationale gallery, Bathing Woman. He moves to Marly-le-Roi to be closer to his friends Denis, Roussel and Vuillard. Josep Clarà and Joaquim Sunyer visit him. Mirbeau praises Maillol publicly and suggests that he should take on the project to create a monument to Émile Zola.

Maillol exhibits in the Salon d’Automne for the first time in 1904, where he shows two clay and two bronze busts. Meier-Graefe dedicates a chapter of his book on modern art to Maillol.

Following Rodin's advice, Count Harry Kessler becomes acquainted with Maillol in the Vollard gallery. Count Kessler becomes the most ardent admirer of Maillol and his patron. This means the end of poverty for Maillol and the end of an obscure life. He has his first success at the 1905 Salon d’Automne with a plaster cast of Mediterranean. Kessler purchases Mediterranean and commissions a high relief from Maillol of two people, a man and a woman, entitled Desire and subsequently a mid-sized sculpture, The Cyclist.

Mediterrània, 1905
Bronze, 110 x 120 x 70 cm
Alexis Rudier, no number
Private collection