Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Head of Beethoven
About the Artwork
A pioneer of modern sculpture, Antoine Bourdelle studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and worked as an assistant to Augustin Rodin, who greatly admired the younger artist’s work. In 1888 Bourdelle produced the first of a series of sculptural portraits of Ludwig van Beethoven, in which the artist orchestrated powerful billowing shapes to convey the creative spirit or genius of the composer. The artist inscribed a quote from Beethoven in the lower left: “My domain is the air; when the wind rises my soul swirls.”
Inscriptions
Signed left side: "Bourdelle / Sculpt."; inscribed right side: "FONRIENATLE DES BRONZES / J PETERMANN: ST GILLES BRUXELLES"; inscribed on front: "Mon domaine c'est l'air / quand le vent, se leve / mon âme tourbillonne / Beethoven"
Provenance
1960: Carrie Moss Halle [1871–1965], Shaker Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1960–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Emile Antoine Bourdelle (French, 1861–1929)
- Date
- 1891
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 59.2 x 42 x 52.1 cm (23 5/16 x 16 9/16 x 20 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Carrie Moss Halle in memory of Salmon Portland Halle
- Accession no.
- 1960.82
More by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010725
Powered by Art Trackers