A Mediocre Sculpture of a Remarkable Woman: The Bust of Anna de Noailles

This sculpture is a model for a bust of Anna de Noailles. The name may be unfamiliar outside France, but she was a towering figure there — the first woman ever to win the Grand Prix of the Académie Française and to be made a Commandeur of the Legion of Honor. For reference, the rank of Commandeur in the Legion of Honor is awarded by the French government to people with outstanding achievements in culture, the arts, or business — in South Korea, it's perhaps best known as an honor given to Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee. Anna de Noailles was the first woman to receive such a distinguished award.

That said, the sculpture itself leaves something to be desired. For a model, it doesn't make a particularly flattering impression — and Anna de Noailles herself is said to have been less than pleased with it. So this piece is worth featuring less for its own artistic merit than for the historical significance of the woman it depicts.