Gudmar Olovson

The sculpture ”J’aime les nuages” (I love the Clouds) is a sublime manifestation of how Gudmar Olovson in a masterful way handled the shape and pose of the nude human body. Reaching her face towards the sky, as if gazing at the clouds, the models stance reflects at the same time both contemplation and passionate emotions. As she reaching towards the sky away from the earthly world the composition creates a singularity, caracteristic for Olovsons aesthetic. The title is taken form Charles Baudelaires poem ”The Stranger” from 1869.

“Whom do you love the best, enigmatic man? Tell me. Your father, your mother,
your sister or your brother?
—I have neither father nor mother, nor sister, nor brother.
—Your friends?
—You use a word there whose sense leaves me clueless to this day.
—Your country then?
—I don’t even know which latitude it resides in.
—Beauty?
—Beauty, capital B? I would love her willingly, were she a goddess and immortal.
—Gold!
—I hate it as much as you hate God.
—Well! What do you love, extraordinary stranger?
I love the clouds,...the clouds that pass, comme ci, comme ça...above and
beyond...the marvelous ineffable clouds!”
"The Stranger" translated by Kent Dixon.

The auctions copy was long housed in Gudmar Olovsons own studio in Paris.
The sculpture in its monumental size (the same measurements as in the auction) is prominently placed on the Promenade de Cagnes-sur-Mer, Côte d’Azur as well as in an important private collection in Grasse, Provence, France.