- 16
Germaine Richier
bidding is closed
Description
- Germaine Richier
- La Montagne
- inscribed G. Richier, numbered HC1 and stamped Susse Fondeur Paris
- bronze
- 185 by 330 by 130cm., 72¾ by 129⅞ by 51¼in.
- La Montagne was created in 1955-1956. Its tirage original contains 11 proofs: from 1/4 to 4/4, HC1, HC2, HC3, EA, 0/4, 00/4, 000/4. The present one is numbered HC1.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist’s estate by the late owner in 2002
Exhibited
Valencia, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, El fuego bajo las cenizas (de Picasso a Basquiat), 2005, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol, Le Feu sous les Cendres, de Picasso à Basquiat, 2005-06, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol, Le Feu sous les Cendres, de Picasso à Basquiat, 2005-06, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Literature
Germaine Richier, Rétrospective (exh. cat.), Fondation Maeght, Paris, 1996, no. 88, colour illustration of another cast p. 159
Germaine Richier (exh. cat.), Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, 1988, no. 34, illustration of another cast
Germaine Richier (exh. cat.), Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, 1988, no. 34, illustration of another cast
Catalogue Note
Created in 1955-56, La Montagne is a wonderful example of Richier’s mature and most expressive phase. It is one of the largest sculptures that she ever created and this immense pair of duelling chimera is a prime example of her unique and powerful work. The delicate balance of long and slender limbs seems to symbolise the contemporary existentialism that gripped Richier's war-weary generation.
Despite showing little resemblance to the human figure, the intertwined forms in La Montagne are based on one of her favourite models, Libero Nardone. Richier described the resulting figures as 'fantastic creatures from an age which we are incapable of recognising, but which is ours, since the world of forms increasingly arises from our research and observation' (J.L. Prat (ed.), Germaine Richier: Rétrospective, Paris, 1996, p. 162).
La Montagne was conceived for the artist's landmark 1956 retrospective at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris and versions are today in the permanent collection of several major European museums including Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Sprengel Museum in Hannover.