Affortunato Gory · (active ca. 1895–1925)
Stretching Nude
TEchnical sheet
| ARTIST | Affortunato Gory |
| DATE | ca. 1915 |
| material | White Carrara marble |
| DIMENSIONS | Height : 88 cm • Base : 16,5 x 16,5 cm |
| Signature | A. Gory |
| PROVENANCE | |
| CONSERVATION | Privaate Collection • France |
about the work
This Art Deco marble sculpture depicts a beautiful nude woman stretching. Her body, slightly inclined, is drawn to its fullest extension, revealing the shape of the muscles and creating a particular tension that makes the work exceptionally pleasing to contemplate. The elongated line, at once taut and supple, illustrates Gory’s feeling for feminine grace and for suspended movement.
The figure stands upon a base decorated with Art Nouveau motifs and covered with drapery, itself rendered in marble. This dialogue between the purity of the body and the ornamentation of the support attests to the artist’s decorative refinement, celebrated for his elegant female dancing figures, often tinged with an oriental influence.
True to his manner, Gory handles the Carrara marble here with brilliance, setting off the anatomy through careful polishing and an acute sense of line. The work belongs fully to the spirit of Art Deco, poised between classical sensuality and decorative modernity.
A highly talented Italian sculptor born in Florence, Affortunato Gory became well known at the Paris exhibitions from the turn of the century through the 1920s. He showed a bronze and a marble bust, Iris, at the 1904 Salon of the Société des Artistes Français, and exhibited again in 1912, 1914 and 1923.
Gory excelled at elegant female dancing figures, often with an oriental influence, and readily combined several materials within a single work: various marbles, gilt and patinated bronze, and ivory. His model Curious was cast by the Paris foundry “Les Neveux de J. Lehmann,” specialists in bronze and ivory figures. Among his important works are The Arab Warrior, his more classical Danseuse Arabe, Ritual Fire Dance and Danseuse aux Boules.
