400.000 - 450.000 EUR

Sculptures

artist

Jacques Lipchitz

period

1920s

materials

Terracotta

dimensions

H. 46.5 cm; Base: 22.6 x 21.6 cm

provenance

- Private collection

edition info

Numbered 4/7

Terracotta proof, signed with initials on the base, dated XII-20 and numbered 4/7. We thank Prof. Dr. Kosme de Barañano for confirming that this is an original terracotta by Jacques Lipchitz. His expertise dated April 9, 2024, will be given to the buyer. Originally from Lithuania, Jacques Lipchitz settled in Paris in 1909. He was one of the pioneers of Cubist sculpture, with geometric forms inspired by the primitivism of African sculpture. Musicians are very present in his work between 1915 and 1920, and the themes of Harlequin, Pierrot, and musicians reflect his iconography inspired by the nightlife of Parisian cabarets like Le Bœuf sur le Toit. A first contract linked him to the dealer Léonce Rosenberg from 1916. The latter dedicated a first solo exhibition to him at the L'Effort Moderne gallery in January 1920, but that same year Lipchitz regained his freedom to create "what he wants and not what is imposed on him." With the help of some friends, he bought back his works from the dealer. Man with Guitar was created in December 1920, and the artist describes this sculpture as a transitional work, announcing a return to a certain classicism. In My Life in Sculpture (Jacques Lipchitz and H.H. Arnason, USA, Viking Press, 1972), Lipchitz writes: "I became aware of negative space and (...) began to use its effects. It was simply a matter of wrapping solid forms around a void to frame it, in reality using the void rather than the volume of the stone to suggest the shape of a head or part of the torso." This Man with Guitar is also called Seated Man with Guitar (Musée National d'Art Moderne Paris, Centre Pompidou) or Pierrot with Clarinet (Maurice Raynal, Jacques Lipchitz, Paris 1947). The original plaster is preserved at the Musée National d'Art Moderne Paris, Centre Pompidou (donation Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation, New York, 1976). Of this sculpture, there is an example in reconstituted stone (Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland) and another in marble (Rijksmuseum Kröller-Muller, Otterlo, Netherlands), as well as two editions of seven copies each, one in bronze and the other in terracotta. For this terracotta series of Man with Guitar, the following are notably listed: - A copy offered to Jean Cocteau by the artist (sold in New York in May 1982) - Number 2/7, Martin and Rena Blackman Collection (dispersed in November 2021) - Number 5/7, Hubert de Givenchy Collection (dispersed in Paris in June 2022) - The numbered copy 4/7 presented here.