Chiparus & the Ballets Russes: Twelve Masterworks from an Important Private Collection

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Lot 4
  • 4

Demeter Chiparus

Estimate
140,000 - 180,000 USD
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Description

  • Demeter Chiparus
  • Danseuse Hindoue

  • figure signed D.H. Chiparus and stamped BRONZE/FRANCE/9

  • cold-painted, parcel-gilt and silvered bronze; carved ivory; on a Portor marble and onyx base
  • 22 1/4 x 27 3/4 x 5 1/4 in. (56.5 x 69.4 x 13.3 cm)
  • edited by Etling, Paris

Provenance

Frederic M. Babbish Collection

Exhibited

A Private Collection of Art Deco Chryselephantine Sculpture, Sotheby’s, New York, July 17-August 25, 1995

Literature

Umberto Di Cristina, "Isadora in Ivory:  The Art Deco Statuettes of Demeter Chiparus," FMR, November 1985, pp. 58-59
Alberto Shayo, Chiparus:  Master of Art Deco, New York, 1993, p. 134, pl. 65

Catalogue Note

The success of the Ballets Russes' exotic spectacles guaranteed imitators from the concert hall to the variety stage, including famed early modern dancers, with extensive Eastern repertories. As these solos moved to music halls and popular theaters, groups of dancers replaced solo acts.  The tableau of Eastern Indian dancers performing at the Folies Bergère demonstrates how the new array of dancers on elaborate stages magnified the splendor of the earlier solos.  Chiparus' Danseuse Hindoue reflects the new aesthetic:  she is the more voluptuous and revealing version of the dancers who formerly appeared in high-minded spectacles in Paris' most celebrated theaters.