Charles Despiau was one of the leading French sculptors in the generation following Rodin. However, instead of continuing the older artist’s Romantic vision, he chose a more classical approach inspired by Greek art. This sculpture represents the final phase in a composition Despiau first conceived in the early 1920s. Beginning with the conventional figure of a standing girl, he gradually fragmented the full-length form until only the torso remained. The result is a severely reduced figure that nonetheless evokes beauty and elegance.