Rooster (Gallic Cock) (1916 (plaster), cast 1919): Art, History and Details

Rooster (Gallic Cock) (1916 (plaster), cast 1919) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Raymond Duchamp-Villon (French, 1876–1918).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A pioneer of Cubist sculpture, Duchamp-Villon carved the original plaster for this bronze relief while serving in the army during World War I. It was intended for the entrance to a temporary theater erected near the front lines, where French soldiers would have recognized the rooster and rising sun as symbols of victory. Duchamp-Villon died during the war, and in 1919, five bronze casts were made from his plaster as a memorial to the artist.

Object facts

• Title: Rooster (Gallic Cock)
• Date: 1916 (plaster), cast 1919
• Creator attribution: Raymond Duchamp-Villon (French, 1876–1918)
• Culture: France, 20th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: painted bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 43.5 x 36 x 5.5 cm (17 1/8 x 14 3/16 x 2 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Sculpture 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1972.227

A detail from the museum

Before being embraced by artists, the term "Cubism" originated from an insult. The same is true of Gallus, a Latin word meaning both "rooster" and "inhabitant of Gaul" (present-day France). Once used to mock the French, the rooster was reclaimed as a national symbol of triumph, as pictured here.

Collection credit

Bequest of Lucia McCurdy McBride

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Annual Report for 1972.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 6 (June 1973): 171–205.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.