PIASA organizes a Modern and Contemporary Art auction on Wednesday, June 1st, 2022.
Featuring 42 lots, this auction offers a remarkable panorama of 20th and 21st century art through a selection of pieces that are particularly rare on the market. True to its commitment to the French scene, PIASA presents collectors artworks by leading artists such as Jean Dubuffet, Maurice Estève, Raymond Hains and Germaine Richier.
Germaine Richier
La Pomone, 1945
Estimate: 60 000 / 90 000 €
Pomona was the Roman goddess who protected fruits and gardens. She was the wife of Vertumnus, god of seasons and plant growth.
She is usually represented as a young woman carrying flowers and fruit. In painting, Pomona is often associated with Vertumnus, either when he gains her trust after changing into an old woman, or as a couple symbolising fertility or autumn.
In sculpture, Pomona is much more frequently isolated and in the ancient or classical period, she is a subject that is particularly well suited to garden statues (Versailles, Marly...). In modern times, only Maillol used this subject with a figure of a standing woman holding an apple in each hand (1912), but this is again only a false pretext to represent a female body.
For Germaine Richier (1902-1959), however, the anatomical aspect disappears in favour of the symbol. With this woman with large flanks, gorging herself on fruit, Richier aimed above all to evoke an image of fecundity. This work is far from the decorative pretexts mentioned above and is much more meaningful.
— N. Barbier, G. Richier: La Pomone, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, 1980
