Large Hand-Carved Cypress Knee Figural Sculpture After Botticelli’s Venus, 1970s

An impressively sized and strikingly beautiful semi-nude female figural sculpture strongly evocative of Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, hand-carved from an unusually large cypress tree knee. Nearly life-size subject captured in a classically composed yet casually content moment, with a beatific countenance that conveys blissful inner musings. Displays a graceful mastery of form, material, and technique, with an almost Art Deco-like face and body, and hair and dress that flow and drape fluidly. Especially notable is the unnamed artist’s ability to leverage the constraints imposed by the shape and lines of the solid cypress tree knee from which it’s carved to enchanting effect. A surprisingly dynamic dimensionality is revealed as one moves around the piece, with its substantial forward-facing polished wood presence becoming lean and free-form from the side, and organically raw from the dark brown bark-covered back. Hints of that bark, along with knots, grain, and naturally occurring fissures, all give the sculpture’s front a wonderfully warm and engaging dose of character. Dimensions Height: 44 in. Width: 24 in. Depth: 16 in. Condition Good Wear consistent with age and use. In great overall condition. A few small spots of old wood filler, most notably above the figure’s right breast. A couple light scuffs on the back/hand and a couple spots of paint transfer near the base.