Antoine BOURDELLE Autographed letter signed on beauty 1924

  

Signed handwritten letter from Antoine Bourdelle: Reflections on Fashion and Beauty - 1924. In response to the letter from Maurice Montabré to Antoine Bourdelle dated April 8, 1924 (on the letterhead of L'Intransigeant), preserved at the Bourdelle Museum. Known for his monumental works, he played a central role in modern art and left a lasting mark in the history of sculpture.

A press officer at the French Embassy to the Quirinal, he also directed prestigious newspapers and posed questions to the great figures of his time. This letter was written in response to a question posed by Montabré to various personalities: "What does it mean to be chic in fashion, is it the clothing or the person that gives the presence?" In this context, Bourdelle shares his philosophical and aesthetic reflections on fashion and beauty, revealing his artistic approach and worldview.

I don't quite know how I always manage to find well-dressed women beautiful. I have sometimes failed to hear anything at the theater.

From an admirable symphony, dazzled as I was by a little shoe that contained a foot [. Thus, I am compelled to keep my eyes closed to listen to a song or a word. This makes me hate myself in those moments because I am terribly afraid that the audience might suppose I am asleep. I have thus astonished many contemporaries.] well, they cannot do anything!

Always, under any clothing, if there are beautiful fullnesses, pure angles, gentle slopes, all made of charm under any garment, it is the immortal rhythm that vibrates, and all the beauty is there. Ah, if it were possible for fashion creations to touch human structures.

Ultimately, it is [the] underneath, it is the bearer of the costume that counts. The clothing of the carpenter, of the mason, of the peasant clearly expresses the soul of their gestures. For the great Aphrodite of the Louvre, which I specifically place near [.

], it is the infinite that is the clothing of its inner structures. She has clothed, she has subtracted her exterior.

And beyond that, she has managed to summon to her all the universal balance. At least that which our [short senses] as humans can call the universal. She is the sister, the woman or the sister of the carpenter, of the mason, of the peasant, this universal Aphrodite of our Louvre museum.

She is like them, all dressed in her work which is the great [. All well-arrived women are the daughters of Aphrodite.

They anchor the destiny of all the fashions of the world. From their beautiful pure turns, from their proud beautiful angles, they anchor all their sails. The great Acropolian serpent of the goddess of wisdom, or the whole nest of love serpents undulating under all the dresses. So, let us leave aside the worries: Loose fashions or slim fashions - waist above or below the navel, none of that moves me.

If the structure is noble and alive of the bearer, everything is saved. It is the harmony of the tireless builder of the human being that makes it so that under all fashions the angel is seen in some beings, and the devil loses nothing in some others. PS, of course, I especially like that everyone creates the costume that is best suited for them.

I am against uniform fashion. Writing is legible and ink is well-preserved.