The River

myminifactory

The River's daring instability and torsion are unparalleled in Maillol's sculpture. Unlike many artists of his time, who sought to emulate the dynamism of twentieth-century life, Maillol typically pursued an art of serenity and stillness, classical nobility and simplicity. As late as 1937, he declared, "For my taste, there should be as little movement as possible in sculpture." However, just a year or so later, he conceived The River, a work that teeters on the edge of recklessness with its movement. Commissioned to create a monument for Henri Barbusse, a renowned pacifist and French writer, Maillol initially envisioned a sculpture centered around war: a woman stabbed in the back, plummeting toward the ground. When the commission fell through, he reimagined the idea as The River. In a bold departure from traditional monumental sculpture conventions, the figure rests low to the ground and appears precariously perched on its pedestal, even hanging below its edge. Twisting and turning, her raised arms convey the force of some powerful current, rendering this woman the personification of moving water.