Aristide Maillol (1861-1944)

Dina Vierny has confirmed the authenticity of this sculpture.

Following the devastation of the First World War, the French state commissioned many of its artists to create monuments to honor soldiers lost in battle. While many artists chose to depict the pathos and anguish of the war, Maillol chose the theme of the honorable and pacifying female figure--her monumentality and classical rendering imparting a sense of harmony and finality. The present work is a preparatory study for the massive lead monument that was commissioned by the town of Port-Vendres and remains there to this day (fig. 1). In creating Le monument de Port-Vendres, Maillol returned to the nude female figure he had used for his studies for Monument à Cézanne, 1912-1925, this time adorning the figure in flowing drapery, carefully molded to her skin.

(fig. 1) Aristide Maillol, Le monument de Port-Vendres, circa 1923.