Herakles Sculpture
"Herakles No. 5" by Emile Antoine Bourdelle , 1909
The Herakles sculpture is a bronze piece created by French artist Emile Antoine Bourdelle. Inspired by Greek mythology, the sculpture depicts Hercules’ struggle against the birds of Stymphale Lake as he shoots his bow, seemingly across the university quad. The sculpture, located on the campus quad corner between Hinds Hall and Link Hall, stands 8 feet tall by 10 feet wide. French Army Officer Captain Doyen-Parigot, an accomplished athlete and friend to Emile Bourdelle, posed for the sculpture.
Herakles was gifted to the university by Mr. and Mrs. S. I. Newhouse and added to the quad in January 1969. Bourdelle designed the piece in a neoclassical fashion and based it on the archer at the Temple of Athena at Aegina, an island off the southeast coast of Greece. In fact, Bourdelle created numerous works that were inspired by archaic and other pre-classical forms of Greek sculpture. The bronze Herakles was cast by the Alexis Rudier Foundry for the artist’s personal collection.
Biography
Emile-Antoine Bourdelle was a French sculptor and the only child born to Emilie Reille and Anthony Bourdelle on October 30, 1861 in Montauban, France. His father, Anthony, was a carpenter and cabinetmaker who sculpted the furniture he designed. In 1876, Bourdelle attended the Toulouse School of Fine Arts. At the age of 24 he won a scholarship to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, worked briefly with Alexandre Falguière, and frequented the studio of Jules Dalou, who was his neighbor. In 1888 he created his first sculptures of Beethoven, showcasing his design and creativity. Auguste Rodin became a great admirer of his work, and by September 1893 Bourdelle began working with Rodin as his assistant where he soon became a popular teacher, both there and at his own studio, Académie de la Grande-Chaumière, where many future prominent artists attended his classes. Bourdelle gradually moved toward a more refined, Classical form of sculpture. He became one of the pioneers of 20th century monumental sculpture. Bourdelle passed at Le Vésinet, near Paris, on October 1, 1929. In 1931, two years after his death, a major retrospective of his work was held in Paris.
SU University Archives; Herakles (sculpture). Smithsonian American Art Museum. Bourdelle, Hercules the Archer. André Malraux Museum of Modern Art; Herakles the Archer. Metropolitan Museum of Art; Emile-Antoine Bourdelle Facts. Yourdictionary.com; Antonine Bourdelle. (2019). Encyclopaedia Britannica; SU Photo and Imaging Archive.