This is a sculpture of Dina Vierny, a Russian-born French art historian. In her youth, she was a model for Aristide Maillol, who bequeathed all his property and collections to her. After the war, she opened an art gallery in Paris, and she founded the Maillol Museum in 1995. In Dina Vierny’s gallery, the first exhibition of Cornelis Zitman was held in 1971. It became the start of his international career as a sculptor, as Vierny then started to organize other exhibitions for him around the world.

Dutch-born painter Cornelis Zitman came from Leiden, but he spent most of his life in Venezuela. At first he tried different kinds of fine arts, including painting and drawing. After his exhibition in Paris, the artist dedicated himself entirely to sculpture and affirmed his own unique style. It is based on recreation and exaggeration of the morphology of Venezuelan indigenous peoples, especially female figures, which is clearly demonstrated by the sculpture from the Museum collection.

The sculpture ‘Sitting Woman’ was given to the Museum by Lidiya Delektorskaya.