Clarisse Lévy-kinsbourg, Terracotta Sculpture Of A Female Academic Nude, Art Deco Period

A very graceful female nude, seated on the ground in an academic pose, its triangular composition lending harmony and balance to the subject. This sculpture is also a symbol of the assertive femininity of its time.
With her boyish haircut and large almond-shaped eyes, this young woman perfectly embodies the fashion of the 1920s, the Roaring Twenties, marked by the social and cultural rebellion of women. The First World War had just ended, and with all the men who had gone to the front, women had been able to experience emancipation. Now, many of them were working and aspiring to greater simplicity and modernity.
The sculpture is signed Clarisse LÉVY on the base, therefore predating 1929, because after her divorce around that time, she added her maiden name, KINSBOURG, to her signature. This is a terracotta piece produced by Kaza France, a renowned ceramics manufacturer from the late 1920s and 1930s. The sculpture is in good condition, without chips or cracks. There are only a few small chips around the edge of the base.
Weight: 8 kg.

Clarisse Lévy-Kinsbourg (1896–1959) was a French sculptor of the Art Deco period. Born Gintzburger, she used the name Kinsbourg until she married Roger Lévy, a 20-year-old law student, in 1912 at the age of 16, and adopted his married name.
She entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris around 1919 and became a student of Laurent Marqueste (Prix de Rome winner), Victor Ségoffin (head of the women's sculpture workshop), Auguste Carli (second Prix de Rome winner), and François Sicard (Prix de Rome winner and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts).
She exhibited her first studio works at the Salon des Artistes Français throughout the 1920s, signing them Clarisse Lévy. She produced numerous sculptures in the Art Deco style that emphasized the aesthetics of the female form or evoked timeless themes in nude poses, reflecting her experience at the Beaux-Arts.
From the late 1920s onward, captivated by the exotic arts that were fashionable at the time, she regularly left her Parisian studio to travel to the French colonies and protectorates. She drew inspiration from it both for her female nudes, her preferred subject, and for scenes of women in their daily lives.
After divorcing her husband in 1929, she would henceforth sign her works with the name Clarisse LÉVY-KINSBOURG or simply KINSBOURG.