Aristide Maillol, Flore nue

Executed in 1911 and cast in bronze at a later date in an edition of 6 plus 2 artist's proofs. inscribed with the monogram, numbered 3/6 and with the foundry mark E. Godard Fondeur Paris. bronze. height: 167cm. Estimate 300,000—400,000 GBP

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Dina Vierny.

PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Japan
Acquired from the above by the present owner in the 1990s

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Hommage à Aristide Maillol, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1961, no. 51, illustration of the plaster p. 18
Waldemar George, Aristide Maillol, London, 1965, illustration of another cast p. 166 (as dating from 1912)

NOTE: The present work depicts Flora, the goddess of Spring. Maillol created this image as part of a quartet of female figures representing the four seasons: Flore was accompanied by Pomone, Printemps and L'Eté. In this rendering of Flora, the subject faces forward, gazing directly at the viewer with her arms hanging lightly at her sides. In other instances, the artist depicted the goddess with a symbol of Spring such as fruit that she holds in her hand.

John Rewald commented on Maillol's fascination with the female form: 'To celebrate the human body, particularly the feminine body, seems to have been Maillol's only aim. He did this in a style from which all grandiloquence is absent, a style almost earthbound and grave... The absence of movement, however, is compensated by a tenderness and charm distinctively his own' (J. Rewald, in Aristide Maillol (exhibition catalogue), Rosenberg Gallery, New York, 1958, pp. 6 & 7).

Sotheby's. Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. London, New Bond Street. 03 Feb 09. www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's