Lot 9 | Georg Kolbe | Flora

In harmony with body and soul

Although Georg Kolbe was already playing around with small animal sculptures made of beeswax at the age of ten, during his artistic training he devoted himself to painting and drawing, first at the School of Applied Arts in Dresden, then at the Academy in Munich and finally at the Académie Julian in Paris. It was only after a stay in Rome that he found his calling as a sculptor in 1900. His artistic breakthrough came in 1911 with his ‘Dancer’, which gave sensual expression to the prevailing spirit of optimism of his time.

Kolbe's work is guided by the pursuit of a form whose essence lies in the harmony of body and mind. Influenced by the authentic physicality of Auguste Rodin's sculptures and by modern dance, Kolbe uses the term ‘expressive sculpture’ for his art, which - always oriented towards nature - is dedicated to the mostly naked body in space: the inner movement of the human being is to be transferred unadulterated into an external form. By eliminating the covers, the superfluous folds of clothing and the ornamentation, the dusty ideals of the imperial era are discarded and a new image of humanity is shaped. The mannered, sweet and rigid gives way to a body-emphasised aesthetic feeling that corresponds to the modern, free citizen.

Flora

The proud, naked female figure of Flora stands expressively erect in a relaxed contrapposto pose, her left leg straight and her foot firmly anchored in the ground, her right leg bent and her toes resting on a stone.

Everything about this figure is subordinate to the natural grace of the figure: no accessory has been added to enable identification of the sitter. The ancient goddess Flora represents vegetation and fertility; her appearance embodies flowers and plants, as well as soil, grain and agriculture. In allegorical depictions of the four seasons, Flora represents spring; the burgeoning plant world is also associated with youth and pregnancy. Contrary to the usual depiction of a young woman adorned with flowers or blossoms, Kolbe's Flora does not appear as an ethereal spirit. Rather, she is given a prominent physical presence and thus significance solely through the pure power of her stately body. She dispenses with any ornamental addition; her sublime figure alone identifies her as a goddess in the flesh - a goddess who is human through and through. No garment, no attribute distracts from the harmoniously balanced proportions, from the relaxed movement of her limbs. Following the formal language of an ancient ideal of the body, Kolbe emphasises instead the powerfully tensed, pronounced play of muscles in the thighs and calves, which he models with the utmost sensitivity.

Kolbe's naturalistic rendering of the body is not so much intended to document anatomy as to express his interest in the vital character and dynamic aura of his figures, which goes beyond smooth surfaces and static statuary. To capture this liveliness, Kolbe prefers bronze. The golden-brown shimmer of the material allows him to give the surface structure of his sculptures particularly vivid effects.

Bettina Haiss