Madeline Fessard

MADELEINE FESSARD (1893-1995).
"Nude Woman", c. 1930.
Plaster.
Measurements: 153 x 105 x 110 cm.
Plaster sculpture by Madeleine Fessard (1893-1995), representing a seated nude woman with her face resting on her hand. It is a work of remarkable formal and emotional introspection, in which the technical refinement and psychological sensitivity characteristic of the sculptural language of this twentieth-century French artist is evident. The female figure, executed with an economy of means typical of plaster but without renouncing a meticulous anatomical observation, appears in a recollected, almost melancholic attitude, in which the gesture of resting her face on her hand suggests a state of contemplation, recollection or weariness. Far from idealizing the body, Fessard depicts it with a naturalness that borders on realism without losing the elegance of classical modeling: the soft lines, the balance of the posture and the tension contained in the muscles reflect a deep knowledge of the human body and an empathetic gaze towards the subject represented.
Madeleine Fessard, whose long career spanned much of the 20th century, was a discreet but significant figure in the French sculptural scene. Trained in an artistic context still dominated by academic models, Fessard was able to appropriate that tradition to explore more personal forms, far removed from masculine monumentality and excessive gesturality, opting instead for an introspective and restrained aesthetic. His work, especially in mediums such as plaster and bronze, focused on the representation of the human body, with special attention to the female figure, which he approached with a gaze free of superficial eroticism and oriented more towards capturing the interiority of the being.
The sculpture described here embodies these qualities: nudity does not appear as an exhibition, but as a condition of vulnerability and authenticity. The choice of plaster, a fragile and porous material, intensifies this impression of intimacy and provisionality, as if the work were always on the threshold between thought and definitive form.