- 12
GERMAINE RICHIER | L'Homme qui marche
Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 EUR
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Description
- Germaine Richier
- L'Homme qui marche
- 87,5 x 34 x 21 cm; 34 7/16 x 13 3/8 x 8 ½ in.
signed, numbered HC1 and stamped with the foundy mark L.Thinotbronze with dark patinaConceived in 1945, this work comes from an edition of 12 (1/8 to 8/8 and HC1, HC2, HC3, EA.) and was cast after 1959.
Provenance
Private Collection, Switzerland
Acquired from the above in 2007 by the present owners
Acquired from the above in 2007 by the present owners
Exhibited
Londres, Anglo French Art Center, Sculptures of Germaine Richier, Engravings Studio of Roger Lacourière, 8-30 September 1947, no. 10, original plaster
Berne, Kunsthalle, Sculpteurs contemporains de l'Ecole de Paris, 14 February - 29 March 1948, no. 118, original plaster
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 13 sculpteurs de Paris, 26 November 1948 - 1 February 1949 (other example)
Bâle, Kunsthalle, Arp, Germaine Richier, Laurens, 1948, original plaster
Paris, Musée national d'Art Moderne, Germaine Richier, 10 October - 9 December 1956 (other example)
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Germaine Richier, 12 June - 21 July 1963, no. 22, pl. IV (other example)
Humlebaeck, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Germaine Richier, 13 August - 25 September 1988, no. 3 (other example)
Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Passions Privées, December 1995 - March 1996; catalogue, Collection Particulière A27, p. 271, illustrated (other example)
Berne, Kunsthalle, Sculpteurs contemporains de l'Ecole de Paris, 14 February - 29 March 1948, no. 118, original plaster
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 13 sculpteurs de Paris, 26 November 1948 - 1 February 1949 (other example)
Bâle, Kunsthalle, Arp, Germaine Richier, Laurens, 1948, original plaster
Paris, Musée national d'Art Moderne, Germaine Richier, 10 October - 9 December 1956 (other example)
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Germaine Richier, 12 June - 21 July 1963, no. 22, pl. IV (other example)
Humlebaeck, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Germaine Richier, 13 August - 25 September 1988, no. 3 (other example)
Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Passions Privées, December 1995 - March 1996; catalogue, Collection Particulière A27, p. 271, illustrated (other example)
Literature
René Barotte, Germaine Richier... a mêlé la réalité à l'imaginaire in Le Journal des Arts, , 4 August, 1959, p. 6E
Brassaï, Les artistes de ma vie in Germaine Richier, , Paris, 1982, pp. 194-197
Philippe Dagen, Près de cent collectionneurs privés envahissent le musée in Le Monde - Culture, 22 December 1995, p. 24
Wienand Verlag, Germaine Richier, Berlin, 1997, p. 191, p. 88, illustrated
Exhibition catalogue, Germaine Richier, Rétrospective, Fondation Maeght, 5 April - 25 June 1996, p. 48, illustrated in colour
Brassaï, Les artistes de ma vie in Germaine Richier, , Paris, 1982, pp. 194-197
Philippe Dagen, Près de cent collectionneurs privés envahissent le musée in Le Monde - Culture, 22 December 1995, p. 24
Wienand Verlag, Germaine Richier, Berlin, 1997, p. 191, p. 88, illustrated
Exhibition catalogue, Germaine Richier, Rétrospective, Fondation Maeght, 5 April - 25 June 1996, p. 48, illustrated in colour
Condition
The colours are fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration although the overall tonality of the patina is slightly lighter in the original work. The creases are slightly dusty. This work is very good original condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
I love life. I love moving things. I am not looking to reproduce movement. I rather try to suggest it. My statues have to give the impression that they are motionless and yet about to move.
Germaine Richier Germaine Richier is probably the only great contemporary statue sculptor after Rodin and Giacometti. Prematurely deceased at the age of 55, in 1959, she left a major body of work behind her.
Germaine Richier knew how to stop in time and leave her statues in their most beautiful and tragic state of material deterioration. L'homme qui marche, a large bronze figure, resembles all together a rock, a stump, a skinned man and the body of a victim tortured with fire.
Between void and pure event, Germaine Richier's statues rise up while still dripping the original mud of non-existence. It is a dream of materiality, asperity, gap and distortion, as if eroded by a heavy or light presence, shaped by a natural hand. Germaine Richier's imagination seems marked by the origin of the work experienced as a struggle. Haunted by this fight, she gives life to silhouettes that cannot part from one another. From this backdrop of violence and cruelty emerges the fusion of the subject and the world, which, in L'homme qui marche is like the ground zero of creation, the original harmony of indifferenciation. An art of division, in which, under the pressure of our palm, matter crumbles, embosses, and perforates like the impulsive shivers of nature in its moments of creation.
Pierre Nahon
Germaine Richier Germaine Richier is probably the only great contemporary statue sculptor after Rodin and Giacometti. Prematurely deceased at the age of 55, in 1959, she left a major body of work behind her.
Germaine Richier knew how to stop in time and leave her statues in their most beautiful and tragic state of material deterioration. L'homme qui marche, a large bronze figure, resembles all together a rock, a stump, a skinned man and the body of a victim tortured with fire.
Between void and pure event, Germaine Richier's statues rise up while still dripping the original mud of non-existence. It is a dream of materiality, asperity, gap and distortion, as if eroded by a heavy or light presence, shaped by a natural hand. Germaine Richier's imagination seems marked by the origin of the work experienced as a struggle. Haunted by this fight, she gives life to silhouettes that cannot part from one another. From this backdrop of violence and cruelty emerges the fusion of the subject and the world, which, in L'homme qui marche is like the ground zero of creation, the original harmony of indifferenciation. An art of division, in which, under the pressure of our palm, matter crumbles, embosses, and perforates like the impulsive shivers of nature in its moments of creation.
Pierre Nahon