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拍品专文
Torse du Printemps is a study for Le Printemps, one in the ensemble of four life-size female figures, which Maillol created between 1909 and 1912 for Ivan Morosov, the renowned Russian collector of modern art. Commissioned to adorn the corners of a spacious neoclassical music room in Morosov's Moscow villa, this quartet of women consists of Le Printemps, a lithe, adolescent girl who is an allegory of spring; L'Été, a voluptuous representation of the abundance of summer; Flore, the Roman goddess of vernal blossoming; and Pomone, the goddess of fertility and fruit-bearing trees.
Although known as Les Saisons, the sculptures should actually be understood in relation to the suite of murals depicting the myth of Cupid and Psyche, as told in the second century story of Apuleius, which Maurice Denis painted for Morosov's concert room in 1906 (L.K. Kramer, Aristide Maillol: Pioneer of Modern Sculpture, Ph.D. diss., New York University, 2000, pp. 154-159). Denis had recommended to Morosov that Maillol be given this four-figure commission. Echoing the mythical transformation of Psyche into an immortal being, the four figures, according to Kramer, can be divided into two pairs of women, one of whom is human and mortal (Le Printemps and L’Été), and the other divine and eternal (Flore and Pomone). Each pairing contrasts a real with an idealized feminine presence.
The final versions of both Le Printemps and Flore hold garlands of flowers, representing the youthfulness of spring as the season unfolds. Le Printemps, who is nude, has lifted the blossoms to her chest, as if to offer them to the spectator or adorn herself. She personifies the season in its early stage, offering promise of the fullness to come. Flore, by contrast, is draped in a clinging full-length gown, and holds her garland across her upper thighs. She is springtime manifest—her mature form embodies vernal splendor. The metamorphosis of Psyche is thereby accomplished; the loveliness of the girl in her human form has attained the idealized beauty of immortal divinity.
Although known as Les Saisons, the sculptures should actually be understood in relation to the suite of murals depicting the myth of Cupid and Psyche, as told in the second century story of Apuleius, which Maurice Denis painted for Morosov's concert room in 1906 (L.K. Kramer, Aristide Maillol: Pioneer of Modern Sculpture, Ph.D. diss., New York University, 2000, pp. 154-159). Denis had recommended to Morosov that Maillol be given this four-figure commission. Echoing the mythical transformation of Psyche into an immortal being, the four figures, according to Kramer, can be divided into two pairs of women, one of whom is human and mortal (Le Printemps and L’Été), and the other divine and eternal (Flore and Pomone). Each pairing contrasts a real with an idealized feminine presence.
The final versions of both Le Printemps and Flore hold garlands of flowers, representing the youthfulness of spring as the season unfolds. Le Printemps, who is nude, has lifted the blossoms to her chest, as if to offer them to the spectator or adorn herself. She personifies the season in its early stage, offering promise of the fullness to come. Flore, by contrast, is draped in a clinging full-length gown, and holds her garland across her upper thighs. She is springtime manifest—her mature form embodies vernal splendor. The metamorphosis of Psyche is thereby accomplished; the loveliness of the girl in her human form has attained the idealized beauty of immortal divinity.