WATER LILIES

Historical and artistic context

With Les Nénuphars (Water Lilies), Georges Coudray offers an idealized vision of feminine beauty at the dawn of the 20th century. The sculpture depicts a young woman with a serene, introspective gaze. Her delicately modeled features and lifelike skin texture attest to Coudray’s technical virtuosity, while her long hair cascades in gentle waves over her chest and shoulders.

What truly distinguishes this piece is the poetic integration of natural elements into the composition. Flowers bloom symmetrically on either side of her hair, enhancing the sense of organic harmony. The figure becomes one with nature—timeless, serene, and imbued with symbolic grace.

Water Lilies was first presented at the Paris Salon in 1899 in a terracotta version, before being executed in marble. This exhibition reflects the recognition the artist enjoyed.

The base is not a traditional pedestal but a stylized floral stem adorned with water lilies in low relief. This artistic decision dissolves the boundary between the human form and the decorative world of plants, a hallmark of the Art Nouveau movement.

Crafted in white Carrara marble, the sculpture radiates purity and softness. The luminosity of the material accentuates the quiet sensuality and refined elegance so central to the aesthetic ideals of the Belle Époque.

Though Coudray remains a discreet presence in the history of French sculpture, Les Nénuphars stands as a masterful synthesis of elegance, symbolism, and natural beauty. In this fusion of woman and flower, of dream and reality, the artist achieves a moment of poetic stillness—both delicate and enduring.

Literature

• BENEZIT, E. Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs. Paris: Librairie Gründ, 1961. Vol.2. p. 675.
• KJELLBERG, P. Les Bronzes du XIXe Siècle, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs. Paris : Les éditions de l’amateur, 1989. p. 226-227.
• THIEME, U. BECKER, F. Allgemeines lexicon der bildenden künstler von der antike bis zur gegenwart. Germany: E.A. Seemann. 1999. Vol. 7/8. p. 569.