Maillol, Aristide (1861 - 1944) Baigneuse debout, first vers...

Estimate

£80,000 - £120,000

Maillol, Aristide (1861 - 1944)
Baigneuse debout, first version 
'Statue femme debout le bras derrière le dos', 1898 / 1901
Bronze, height: 66.5 cm, 26.1 in
Monogram 'AM' [cast by Florentin Godard between 1909 and 1938 without foundry mark]

Property of a Gentleman

Provenance:
Sotheby's London, c. 1976 [5000 guineas] 

Lot Essay:
We thank Dr. Ursel Berger for confirmation of the attribution (M 7/2016).

"Maillol's first figurative sculptures were carved from wood - see for example the Standing Bather in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, originally in the collection of Prince Antoine Bibesco. It was the dealer Ambroise Vollard who first suggested to Maillol that bronze casts could be made from his woodcarvings. Maillol subsequently produced two versions in plaster from the wood carving of the Standing Bather: this present model is almost identical to the wood carving (the second the sculptor reworked, removing the drapery over the right arm and remodeling the right hand in a more outstretched position).

On September 10th, 1902, Maillol sold a group of sculptures to Ambroise Vollard, including these two models, listed as follows:

Statue femme debout le bras derriere le dos. (the present cast)

Autre statue femme debout le bras derriere le dos aussi

According to their 1902 agreement Vollard bought all the rights of reproduction of these sculptures - 'en toute propriété et avec le droit d'édition' and therefore, the casts that Vollard produced of the 'Baigneuse debout, first version', are from the only legal edition. In signing this contract with Vollard, Maillol relinquished his rights to reproduce these works himself.

The contract of 1902 gave no limit to the number of bronzes which could be cast - this was usual for this period. The number of casts Vollard edited is unknown and whilst some of the small models such as 'Baigneuse sé coiffant' were rather popular, examples of the present work are rare.

In 1907 Ambroise Vollard began using the Florentin Godard foundry to cast these Maillol models and from 1909 to 1939 he used them exclusively, as the papers in the Vollard estate prove. Florentin Godard was a sand cast foundry, they rarely marked their casts with their name and never numbered them.

This 'Baigneuse debout' is a good and typical bronze of the Vollard edition, cast by Florentin Godard, and carefully chiseled and patinated."