Aristide Maillol

Galerie Dina Vierny, Paris
Acquired from the above in 1990

John Rewald, Maillol, Paris, 1939, illustration of the terracotta pl. 106
Waldemar George, Aristide Maillol, London, 1965, illustration of another cast p. 175

Dark green patina. There are a few very minor nicks around the base and some pin dot nicks on the figure's left calf. There's a small spot of plaster residue on the lower stomach and a small surface scratch on the right side of the figure's forehead. Otherwise fine, the work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

By the end of the 1890s, Maillol shifted his focus from tapestries to sculpture, the medium which would dominate his oeuvre for the rest of his life. Beginning with a series of clothed figures, he soon moved beyond the rendering of drapery to concentrate on the pure proportions of the body. The present work, created in 1920, is a superior example of the artist's understanding of the human form, and his agility at rendering the gentle swells and sturdy stature of the female body even as it is contorted by the present figure's crouching pose. As Bertrand Lorquin has written of Maillol's early work, "Starting with standing figures and then moving on to seated, crouching, recumbent bodies, he tested each position from one sculpture to the next. Before long he was creating masterpieces of balance and perfection. His production was rarely again to attain the intensity it had in this dazzling, deeply moving moment in the genesis of his oeuvre" (Bertrand Lorquin, Maillol, London, 1995, p. 38).

As with many of Maillol's creations, the present sculpture is a medley of formal quotations that call to mind some of the greatest sculpture of the classical age, most notably the famed Spinario (see fig. 1). Yet Maillol's rendering of this figure is emphatically avant-garde, characterized by the extreme intimacy of the subject and the sleek linearity of form that would define the Modernist aesthetic. Bertrand Lorquin describes the true artistry at the heart of Maillol's work: "Maillol's sculpture achieves an ideal balance through the accuracy of its proportions as well as the harmoniousness of its compositions. Paul Valéry once said that sculpture is an art full of surprises, and at each moment the sculptor chooses his viewpoint among an infinite array of possibilities. A Maillol statue is a perpetual revelation of the type of beauty which the sculptor invented" (ibid., pp. 102-03).

Fig. 1: Spinario, Greek, 1^st century BC, bronze, Capitoline Museums: Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome