Christine Z II

A few months ago, Robin wrote about the beautiful and touching sculptures of Heinz Schwarz. The implicit link between his “Clementine” (1974) and “Adolescent and horse” (1976) was the tragedy and suffering that, for different reasons, can befall young lives.

There is not so much information available about the location of Schwarz’s works. Lionel, one of our readers, recently put us on to one of the sculptor’s lesser-known bronze masterpieces. Camera in hand, I hurried off to hunt down this beautiful stuff and found another stunning study of adolescence. “Christine Z II” surveys Geneva’s Botanical Gardens from a leafy surround.

Christine Z II 1

Christine Z II (year unknown) by Heinz Schwarz

The young girl is slim, poised and lithe of limb. Her smooth skin and blatant emerging sexuality are fragile and poignant in the extreme. In contrast to her cousin “Clementine,” she emanates neither sadness nor tragedy. She seems only amused and bemused by the visitors to her green domain.

Christine Z II 3

Profile of Christine Z II

“Christine Z II” manifests resilience with a confident, pensive intelligence. It is as though she has just come to recognise the power of her feminine beauty. Will her enclosing foliage always protect her from the dark forces of our world? I hope so.

Thanks, Lionel.

3 thoughts on “Christine Z II

  1. Thank you for taking the time to pay a visit to this mysterious “Christine Z II” and for taking these stunning pictures of her. It seems she is perfectly standing in her world amongst this luxurious vegetation.
    What is she wondering about is left to the viewer to guess. She might simply start to realize the complexity of life that demand to make choices and surmount doubts we have about them.

  2. Very nice pictures. I’m touched by the way you describe the young “Christine Z II”. You may be surprised but I’m the model who inspired Heinz Schwarz for this sculpture. It was about 35 years ago. As far as I can remember, I was facing difficult choices engaging my whole life, as all young people are.
    About ten years ago (I had left Geneva since a couple of years already) I had the surprise to meet this scuplture as I was visiting the Botanical Garden of Geneva, and trying to meet the director of the herbarium. Strangely, since this tender age, I’ve become fond of botanic and entomology and so I love to think about my alter ego staying in this beloved garden. And so will I even after my death !
    I must admit that the “dark forces of our world” touched me in many circumstances, but nature is still and always helping me to keep my balance and recover peace and calm.
    The artist entierly revealed his model, didnt’he ?

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