Couronne de bourgeons II (Crown of Buds II)

Crown of Buds is a radiant evocation of a female torso that surges with erotic energy. The sculpture relies on the repetition of a bud or breast-like shape in a circular configuration. Its radiating patterns recall similar natural forms, from the petals of a flower to the rays of the sun.

The large opening at the core of Crown of Buds is daring and signals the pioneering efforts of many sculptors during these years to give equal importance and meaning to space and matter, while freeing themselves from the tyranny of realism. This "pregnant" void is as effective a symbol of fertility as are the breast-like shapes surrounding it. The piece may be seen as a conflation of lower and upper torso, in which Arp has poetically reshuffled different aspects of the female body to evoke the primordial pelvic opening from which all human life emerges.

Crown of Buds and other works of the period are poignant reminders of the value of peaceful human coexistence with the law of nature, an ideal that Arp believed was rapidly being destroyed by human greed and belligerence.

Margherita Andreotti

2005