GEORG KOLBE (1877 Waldheim/Sachsen - 1947 Ber... Lot n° 69

Flora Bronze with golden brown patina. 1939. 72,5 x 26 x 15 cm. Monogrammed "GK" (ligatured) on the plinth, foundry stamp "H. Noack Berlin" on the verso. Berger 175. Provenance: Formerly Küpper Collection Literature: Ursel Berger, Georg Kolbe, Leben und Werk, with the catalog of Kolbe sculptures in the Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin 1990 (cf. cat. 175, ill. p. 369). Excellent, quite exquisite casting with wonderfully vivid, light brown patina. Of extreme rarity. With a copy of the expertise of Dr. Ursel Berger, Berlin, dated 21.1.2018. Flora was intended as the fifth female figure for the "Ring of Statues", a circular composition of unadorned stelae of dark marble, between which statues find their place. Initial sketches date back to 1933. The sculpture group occupied Kolbe until his death, but due to the ban on casting during World War II, it was only erected posthumously, in 1954, as a large sculpture in the Rothschild Park in Frankfurt am Main. Kolbe had completed "Flora" in October 1939 to such an extent that the larger-than-life enlargement to two meters could be cast in bronze in 1940. Originally conceived as a "ring of women," the sculpture group was initially to contain only female figures, but was then reduced to four female figures and expanded to include three males. The figure of "Flora" was eliminated from the program at the end of 1941. In the 1930s, large standing figures were at the forefront of Kolbe's work. While his sculpture is created at the beginning under the impression of the sculpture of Rodin and Maillol. An inspiration fueled by a six-month stay in Paris in 1897, it evolves toward monumental statuary in the 1930s. In particular, the female figures created during this period combine a heroicizing dignity and beauty and correspond to Kolbe's ideal image of a "man of high character as a model of human dignity" (Georg Kolbe, quoted in: Ursel Berger, Georg Kolbe, Leben und Werk, Berlin 1990, p. 116). Similar to the rest of the figures that make up the "Ring of Statues," "Flora" appears completely exposed, conforming to the classical ideal of female proportions. The frontally oriented composition emphasizes the muscular, athletic body of the young woman, a characteristic feature of Kolbe's work of the 1930s, which is marked by his search for ideal body forms. The calm, serious facial features, the head held high and the overall composition reduced to the essentials reinforce the idealized effect of the statue and its static monumentality. Only the slightly bent right leg, resting on a stone, and the arms spread slightly to the side give the figure a hint of movement. Dr. Ursel Berger points out that the present bronze is one of three known lifetime casts, made either shortly before the ban on casting during World War II or between the end of the war and Kolbe's death in November 1947. One of these specimens is now in the holdings of the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin (inv. no. P 99).