Spring

The present work is the only known lifetime cast of Spring, which Paul Manship originally conceived to adorn the garden fountain for his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts. “Manship's Spring is a young woman, in keeping with the symbolism of the season, as earlier expressed in Botticelli's Primavera. A characteristic manifestation of spring, as personified in Manship's sculpture, is the presence of wind, suggested in the woman's fluid motion, backswept hair, and flying draperies. The presence of a cherub blowing in a long narrow horn further suggests the wind and is reminiscent of Cupid in Botticelli's painting.” (G.L. Tarbox, Robin R. Salmon, "Manship and the Tradition of Garden Sculpture," in Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America, exhibition catalogue, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1985, pp. 90-91)

The present cast remained in the artist’s own collection and descended within his family until acquired by the present owner. Manship authorized a subsequent edition of six, though only three bronze examples were known to be cast posthumously.