Lot 98: STEPHAN ABEL SINDING

STEPHAN ABEL SINDING NORWEGIAN 1846-1922 PRINTEMPS VICTORIEUX (VICTORIOUS SPRING) signed and dated: Stephan Sinding PARIS II. VI. 1919 white marble 154cm., 60 5/8 in.

Purchased from the artist by the Norwegian diplomat, Frederick Peterson;
Thence by descent

In a letter dated 11υth August 1932, Elga Sinding, the sculptor's widow, told the story of the creation of Printemps Victorieux. The Sindings had been in Paris for 3 and a half years during the Great War. Throughout the highs and lows, Sinding never lost the hope for victory, even in the darkest moments. He began to work on the present sculpture, calling it 'Victorious Spring.' His wife describes finding him in his atelier whilst at work on the Printemps: 'his face radiant, creating it gave him much pleasure.' When the bombs fell on Paris in the spring of 1918 the Sindings were very worried for the two marbles in the atelier, Printemps and L'Offrande. The sculptor was given permission to store the pieces in the cellar of the Sorbonne, where they remained till the end of the war. The sculptor died in 1922 and his widow affirmed that Printemps 'can well be called Stephan Sinding's last work, he finished l'Offrande afterwards... but it was begun much before.'

For the face of his sculpture Sinding was inspired by his patron's eldest daughter, Solveigh Peterson. The sculpture was complete by May 1919, when the Petersons held a reception at the sculptor's atelier, to give people an opportunity to view it before it was shipped to Norway. In 1932 Elga Sinding authorised a single bronze cast to be made, which stands as a public monument in the town of Moss in Norway. A plaster version was gifted by Elga to the Musée des beaux-arts in Lyon in 1934.

The marble is sold together with a dossier of letters from Sinding to Peterson.