from "RENOIR SCULPTEUR" by PAUL HAESAERT

MOREL AND THE THREE TERRA COTTAS

For many years, Louis Morel, a craftsman devoted to sculpture, spent his vacations in Essoyes where he was born in 1887 and where he regularly ran across Renoir for whom he had the greatest respect imaginable. Finally he approached the Master, whom he had only seen from a distance. Since Guino had left, Morel offered to assist Renoir. Renoir scarcely paid him any attention. However, some test pieces were made, somewhat tentatively as in the case of most of Morel's work; still, a few turned out well. Morel felt very honored to be able to work for his renowned colleague and undertook the work with the greatest diligence, humbly and not without trepidation. Renoir yelled at this novice assistant, rushed him along and made fun of him. Three high reliefs, each about 60 centimeters tall and 40 centimeters wide would be executed in this way and produced in terra cotta. Two of them represent a woman dancing with upraised arms playing a tambourine; the third, a shepherd leaning against a tree trunk, apparently playing a reed pipe. The subjects were given in Renoir's drawings. These works are charming and discrete, of indecisive workmanship; you can feel that the assistant has gone about the work with great care, that he has hobbled himself for fear of making a mistake. Renoir would have liked more relief, but this was not Morel's inclination. He obeyed, but without confidence, resisting all the time. Left to his own devices, he would have created forms that were even less rounded and less assertive. To which Renoir replied that one had to fatten dancers as one fattens geese.

In 1918, Renoir, intent on pursuing this new attempt at collaboration, summons Morel to Cagnes. There he begins a new work (a dancing figure wearing a garland), one which will not be finished due to Renoir's declining health and increasingly severe bronchitis. It is touching that the final sculptures of this old man paralyzed and harried by death evoke music and dance.

DANCER WITH TAMBOURINE II

WITHOUT GARLAND AND ARMS TOGETHER

High relief in terra cotta. Height 58 cm; width 41 cm. Year of execution: 1918. Production by Renou & Colle, Paris. A nude woman dances while beating a tambourine. To the right and left, small fluted columns. Louis Morel worked on this relief at Essoyes for and under the direction of Renoir. He took his initial inspiration from a sketch by Renoir dating from the same time. The original plaster model is not signed; the terra cottas which were made from the plaster model bear the stamp "Renoir" to the left at the level of the feet of the figure and are not dated.

REED PIPE PLAYER

High relief in terra cotta. Height 58 cm; width 41 cm. Year of the execution: 1918. Production by Renou & Colle, Paris. A shepherd with long hair and clothed in a short cape leans against a tree trunk and appears to be playing a reed pipe. To the right and left, small fluted columns. Louis Morel worked on this relief at Essoyes for and under the direction of Renoir. He took his initial inspiration from a sketch by Renoir dating from the same time. The original plaster model is not signed; the terra cottas which were made from the plaster model bear the stamp "Renoir" to the left at the base of the tree trunk and are not dated.