阿里斯蒂・麥約，《站立的浴女，雙手碰肩》

Estate of the artist
Private Collection, France (acquired by 1984)
Sale: Ader-Picard-Tajan, Paris, December 7, 1989, lot 26b
Private Collection, Japan (and sold: Sotheby’s, New York, May 8, 2002, lot 12)
Dina Vierny, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired from the above)
Acquired from the above in 2010

Yamanashi, Musée Départmental des Beaux-Arts; Hiroshima, Musée Hiroshima des Beaux-Arts; Kumamoto, Musée Préfectoral des Beaux-Arts de Kumamoto; Kanazawa, Musée Préfectoral des Beaux-Arts, Ishikawa; Matsuyama, Musée Préfectoral des Beaux-Arts, Ehime; Kobe, Musée Préfectoral d’Art Moderne, Hyogo & Tokyo, Musée d’Isetan, Exposition Maillol au Japon, 1984, no. S-15, illustrated in the catalogue

John Rewald, Maillol, London, 1939, illustration of another cast p. 129
Marguette Bouvier, Aristide Maillol, Lausanne, 1945, illustration of another cast pl. 93
Waldemar George, Aristide Maillol, 1965, illustration of another cast p. 129
Paule-Marie Grand Chastel, Aristide Maillol, Milan, 1966, vol. 95, illustration of another cast pl. IV
Maillol: 1864-1944 (exhibition catalogue), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1975, no. 26, illustration of another cast p. 51
Waldemar George, Aristide Maillol et l’âme de la sculpture, Neuchâtel, 1977, illustration of another cast pl. 133
Exposition Maillol au Japon (exhibition catalogue), Yamanashi Prefectural Museum, Fuefuki, 1984, no. S. 15, illustration of another cast

The work is in very good condition. Mottled olive green patina. There is one blemished spot in the patina in the proper left shoulder. There is some minor surface dust and minor scratches commensurate with age.
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.

The female body fascinated Maillol, and the present sculpture is one of his most idealized representations. Maillol's first rendering of this figure at the beginning of the twentieth century is emphatically avant-garde, characterized by a sleek linearity that would define the Modernist aesthetic. When Maillol turned his creative energy from tapestry to sculpture in 1898, the nude bather was one of the first motifs he explored, a subject steeped in the traditions of Western art history.

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 harmony 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" (Bertrand Lorquin, Aristide Maillol, London, 1995, pp. 102-03).

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Olivier Lorquin.