Gilt Bronze & Marble Bust of ‘Woman with Iris’ by Maurice Bouval

Maurice Bouval’s “Woman with Iris” is a nude gilt bronze bust of a woman. The woman’s hair clings to her face and body as if wet. The delicate sloping placement of a singular iris flower on the right side of the woman’s face includes the flower’s stem. The flower caresses the woman’s side, creating the illusion that the two are one singular being. While the iris and woman may be the only iconographic elements of the piece, the beauty in the simplicity of composition is highlighted in the delicate lines in the striped-marble base on which the sculpture rests.