1861-1944

Aristide Maillol was close to Auguste Rodin, who valued him much, as one of the most important French sculptors of his generation. His path to sculpture was quite unusual: around 1895, when he was only in his mid-thirties, he seriously began to employ with sculptural works in wood and clay. He was a self-study; he had initially studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and initially appeared primarily as a painter and graphic artist significantly influenced by Paul Gauguin. However, he had early broadened his artistic means of expression by focusing on ceramic art, weaving, and knotting - Maillol's first major solo exhibition was a collection of tapestries and miniature sculptures. Since the turn of the century, he concentrated on sculpture more and more.

On the one hand, Maillol's sculptures, are strongly related to classical sculpture by their emphasis on symmetry and balance, but on the other hand, they make the first step towards abstraction and have become the model for the next generation of sculptors. His central theme is the feminine nude, which, although developed from the living model, receives individual traits of the artist works, that is the harmonically self-contain and always sensuous femininity.

Among Maillol's most famous works are the large-scale sculptures "The Three Nymphs" in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris and, especially famous among the German art lovers, "The River," a reclining female nude, which can be admired in front of the Hamburg Kunsthalle.

Giclée = derived from the French verb gicler meaning "to squirt, spray".

Giclée method is a digital printing process. It is a high-resolution, large-format printout on an inkjet printer with special different coloured or pigment-based inks (usually six to twelve). The colours are light-fast, that is, resistant to harmful UV light. They have a high richness of nuance, contrast and saturation.

The Giclée process is suitable for real art canvas, handmade and watercolor paper and for silk.