ÉMILE-ARTHUR SOLDI-COLBERT

Soldi-Colbert was the son of a German professor named Soldyck, of Danish origin. He worked as a bookbinder and trained as a medal-engraver, before beidng admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts. He debuted at the salon with a relief depicting Acteon, a plaster of which was sold in these rooms, 15 November 2005, lot 37.

The model for the present Flora was commissioned in 1898, and the plaster was finished by Soldi-Colbert in 1900. The completed lifesize marble version, measuring 190cm., was in the Jardin du Carrousel (at the Arc de Triomphe) from 1903 onwards, but was destroyed during the liberation of Paris in August 1944. 

RELATED LITERATURE

G. Bresc-Bautier and A. Pingeot, Sculptures des jardins du Louvre, du Carrousel et des Tuileries II, Paris, 1986, pp. 410-412