Mediterranean Sea

This statue was the first large sculpture that Maillol ever made. The work is very typical of the style of Maillol, which uses large round volumes. The attitude of the figure then refers very clearly to the classical form language, which he was familiar with and which he would never leave. The classical ideal of harmony and inner balance is present in all of his work. The images are smoothly polished. With this kind of work Maillol had a great influence on sculptors such as Georg Kolen Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Clotilde Narcisse, one of the two women who employed the artist in the tapestry weaving he had installed in his house in 1893, was a model for this image. Clotilde was also a model for Maillol's bronze sculpture "La nuit" from 1902. "Six copies of this work are in bronze, one in stone and one in white marble.A seventh copy in bronze was made" hors commerce "and is now on Maillols grave at Banyuls.