Flower of Youth
Original Language TitleFleur de Jeunesse
Alternate TitleYouth, Flower of Youth, Fleeting Hour of Youth
Artist
Bessie Potter Vonnoh
(American, 1872 - 1955)
Dateca. 1911
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 10 3/8 × 4 1/4 × 3 5/16 inches (26.35 × 10.8 × 8.47 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Robert Rowe Thompson, cousin of the artist
Object numberF96-28
Signed(top of base, right): XI Bessie Potter Vonnoh
Markings(maker's mark, back of base): R.B.W (other marks, under base): no. 11 (stamped) 119 [?] (scratched in)
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis full-length statuette with a greenish-brown patina portrays a young woman standing with her weight on the proper left leg. When viewed with her body facing forward, her head - with eyes closed - is turned toward the proper right and seen in profile. Her arms are raised - the right draped over her head and the left raised to her shoulder with her fingers enmeshed in her long, roughly-textured hair. The loose-fitting garment trails onto the sculpture's base.Gallery LabelBorn in St. Louis and a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, Bessie Potter Vonnoh was among the first American sculptors to specialize in small bronzes, and brought the art to a high degree of refinement. Although she is best known for intimate renderings of mothers and children, she also translated into three dimensions the lovely, introspective young women of the type who inhabited the canvases of American painters such as Childe Hassam and Richard Miller. In a petite format, Fleur de Jeunesse showcases Vonnoh's delicate and fluid modeling, sensuous lines and graceful composition.
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