Lot 94: MADELEINE CHARNAUX

SEATED NUDE
signed and dated: mCharnaux 1929 and stamped: CIRE PERDUE C. VALSUANI

36cm., 14 1/8 in.

bronze, rich green and brown patina

Madeleine Charnaux sculpted in Paris in the 1930s, exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries. Shes was also amongst France's foremost female aviators. Throughout her aeronautic career she broke world records for altitude and for speed over distance. Her drive for success took her to Morocco where extended daylight hours allowed for more training. In 1942 Charnaux published La Passion du Ciel: Souvenirs d'une Aviatrice, an account of her experiences as an aviator. For a short period Charnaux was married to the acclaimed author Pierre Frondai.

During WWI Charnaux was an assistant to Émile-Antoine Bourdelle. She also modelled for him and Bourdelle produced three bronze portraits of Charnaux in 1917, two standing full-length statuettes and a life-size bust. The present nude betrays some of Bourdelle's influence in the angularity of the facial features. Charnaux's placement of the figure on the plinth beautifully captures an everyday moment of relaxation and ease. The cast is excellently patinated with subtle coloration throughout.

RELATED LITERATURE
Antoine Bourdelle, ex. cat., Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York, (undated), p. 71; P. Cannon-Brookes, Emile Antoine Bourdelle, London, 1983, p. 84; S. Kennedy, 'The Croix de Feu, the Parti Social Français, and the Politics of Aviation, 1931-1939,' in French Historical Studies, vol. 23.2, 2000, pp. 395-6; B. Mantura, Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, ex. cat., Palazzo Racani Arroni, Rome, 1994, p. 85, 87; S. Reynolds, France Between the Wars: Gender and Politics, London, 1996, p.78