Allegory of the Month of May
1890
Terracotta
50 cm
Signed, dated, and titled: VBastet / 1890 / Moi de Mai
Restoration to the pedestal
Bust of a smiling and joyful girl titled Mois de Mai, by Victorien Bastet, dating from 1890. Bastet, born a peasant in Bollène in the Vaucluse (50 km north of Avignon), became one of the best sculptors in France and this terracotta bust of a young girl is a variant of his work Première Sensation of 1882, which is known from from an original plaster and two terracotta proofs - all three unfortunately unlocated today. With this young girl Bastet has captured a smile, an authentic joy, which is pure and without artifice.