Christian Astuguevieille, Divinité Femme Surf, Bronze and Chestnut, 2004, Cire Perdue Couffignal EA1, Edition of 2 Copies, 195cm High

Extremely rare work in an edition of only 2, the chestnut base is also by Christian Astuguevieille. Provenance from the G.D. collection, close to the artist. Certificate of authenticity provided to the future owner-collector, issued by the artist.

Since the 1970s, the artist has created what he calls his “Imaginary World”. The roots of this world are the traditional societies in vast Oceania and greater Africa. Having spent several months in Bali, an island in the 70s that lived according to its ancestral traditions, rites and customs and not tourism, he studied Balinese offerings prepared by village women who then carried them to a temple as an offering to the spirits. The offering was then shared among the villagers. Apart from the passionate surfers who were always on the lookout for a new spot, there were only tourists staying with locals or guests in Princess Wowo's house.
In all traditional societies, women represent fertility/fecundity, the giver of life, and like the Madonnas, much later in Europe. The surf woman is the woman who protects surf explorers from the evil spirits of the ocean. If anyone knows the Uluwatu temple, built on the edge of a cliff above the ocean and populated by monkeys, and the surfers at the bottom of the cliff to catch the waves in a spot where access was reserved for the most adventurous.

A trip to the Hawaiian islands I introduced her to, and her discovery of the traditional Hawaiian wooden long board.

She is a woman, a mother and the protector of surfers against the evil spirits of the ocean.

Another example in the Gordon and Marylin Darling collection, great patrons of Australian art, including Aboriginal art, the best known today thanks to its promotion by visionaries like them, their personal collection and their contribution via a foundation.