Victorien-Antoine Bastet

Born into a rural farming family, Bastet spent his formative years assisting his parents in agricultural labour, primarily tending flocks. At the age of nineteen, he left his native environment for Avignon, where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts to pursue formal training in drawing. His aptitude was swiftly recognised by his instructors, and in 1874 he was awarded a scholarship of 300 francs by the Vaucluse General Council. This financial support enabled him to continue his education in Paris, where he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1875 and studied under the sculptors Auguste Dumont and Jules Thomas.

Bastet made his first appearance at the Paris Salon in 1879, while completing his military service in Béziers, exhibiting a plaster statue of Narcissus (cat. no. 4787). This marked the beginning of a sustained presence at the Salon, where he exhibited regularly until 1905. His artistic achievements were recognised early in his career: he received an honourable mention in 1881, a third-class medal in 1882, and a second-class medal in 1886, after which he was accorded hors concours status. Despite suffering a debilitating stroke in 1901 that left him paralysed, Bastet had by then secured a prolific and stable career, particularly within his native region. Several of his marble works are preserved today in the Calvet Museum in Avignon, attesting to his regional significance.

Among his most notable works are La Madeleine, exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 (cat. no. 30), and Manon, presented at the Salon of 1898 (cat. no. 3130), both of which are now housed in the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris. Bastet showed a marked preference for the representation of the female figure, establishing himself as a significant exponent of late nineteenth-century academic sculpture. Although his sculptures were executed in marble, the carving itself was typically entrusted to specialised practitioners, in accordance with the collaborative practices common in academic ateliers. Nevertheless, these works achieved considerable success among collectors..

The sculpture Eve occupies a central place within his œuvre. Initially presented as a plaster statuette model at the Salon of 1901 (cat. no. 2981), it was subsequently realised as a life-size marble sculpture and exhibited at the Salon of 1903 (cat. no. 2511). The marble version was acquired by the Conseil général de la Seine and installed in the public park of Choisy-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne), where it remains today. Bastet’s interpretation of the biblical figure is characterised by a restrained emotional register: the profusion of hair partially veiling the figure’s face serves both as a compositional device and as a subtle indicator of shame and introspection, evoking the moral consequences of the Fall.

Bastet collaborated primarily with the distinguished foundries Barbedienne, Drouart, and Valsuani. However, his refusal to engage in industrial-scale production significantly limited the diffusion of his works, contributing to their present-day rarity. Aside from the monumental marble version in Choisy-le-Roi, only a small number of iterations of Eve are known: a bronze cast, a terracotta model, and a reduced marble version. This relative scarcity, combined with the technical refinement and aesthetic coherence of his work, underscores Bastet’s position within the academic tradition. His sculptures exemplify an idealised approach to the human form, particularly the female body, situating his œuvre within the broader continuum of late nineteenth-century figurative sculpture.