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

Hommage à Aristide Maillol, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1961, no. 51, illustration of the plaster p. 18
Waldemar George, Aristide Maillol, London, 196✨5, illustration of another cast p. 166 𝔉;(as dating from 1912)

Rich green patina. This 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

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 tha🧸t 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 (exh🐓ibition catalogue), Rosenberg Gallery, New York, 1958, pp. 6 & 7).