171. * Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902) Figure en bronze représentant la Baigneuse s'essuyant le pied droit ou Suzanne Reposant sur une base entièrement moulée de style naturaliste; signé DALOU A bronze figure of the Bather wiping her right foot or Suzanne, Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902) Resting on a fully cast naturalistic style base; signed DALOU, with the founder's stamp CIRE/PERDUE/AA HEBRARD and numbered (C. 9), 22cm wide, 36cm high (8 1/2in wide, 14in high) Provenance Private Collection, Switzerland The son of a glove-maker, Dalou (1838-1902) initially trained in drawing at the Petite École de Paris. In 1854, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years and took up sculpture. He was known for his left-wing political sympathies and took part in the creation of the Paris Commune in 1871. Gustave Courbet, director of the Fédération des Artistes de la Commune de Paris, appoints Dalou deputy administrator to Barbey de Jouy, director of the Musée du Louvre. His mission was to protect the collections from vandalism. Labeled a Communard, Dalou went into exile with his family in London from 1871 until his return to Paris in 1879. In London, he exhibited at few Salons, notably at the Royal Academy, and taught at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), where he had a profound influence on the development of British sculpture. Dalou is celebrated as a renowned portraitist, much appreciated for his genre figures: maternities, bathers, women at prayer, children at play... Comparative Literature A. Simier, Jules Dalou, le sculpteur de la République, cat. exp., Paris, Petit Palais, 18 avril-13 juillet 2013, n° 313, pp. 384-385.