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Indepth Arts News:
"Facing the Other: Charles Cordier, Ethnographic Sculptor"
2004-10-12 until 2005-01-09
Dahesh Museum of Art
New York, NY,
USA United States of America
The Dahesh Museum of Art is pleased to present the first monographic exhibition on Charles
Cordier, the leading ethnographic sculptor of nineteenth-century France. Organized by the
Musée d’Orsay in Paris, in cooperation with the Musée national des beaux -arts du Québec and the
Dahesh Museum of Art, this event featuring over sixty sculptures is exclusively on exhibit in the
United States at the Dahesh. In 1848, Charles Cordier caused a sensation at the Paris salon by exhibiting the bust of a Sudanese
man. It was derided by critics for showing an African man as a subject of beauty.
Although greatly
admired by many artists during his lifetime, including Auguste Rodin (1840 -1917), throughout his
career Cordier was forced to defend not only his subjects, but also his materials. Setting aside the
standard white marble, Cordier traveled to Algeria, Greece, and Egypt to explore their quarries
for black onyx and rare translucent marble veined with blue, peach, and red hues. The confidence
of his artistry is captured in every detail, revealing the vibrant humanity of each subject.
The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only institution in the United States devoted collecting, exhibiting,
and interpreting works by Europe’s academically trained artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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