Chana Orloff 1888-1968

Acquired directly from the artist by Malvina Hoffman, Paris circa 1917
Gifted to Malvina Hoffman's brother
Thence by descent to the current owner

Paris, Salon d'Autonmne, Grand Palais, Second exposition, 1913
Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune, Exposition de peinture, 1916
Paris, L'Atelier Chana Orloff, Sic Ambulant, 1917 
New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Contemporary Russian Painting & Sculpture, February 24, 1923 - April 6, 1923

Vanity Fair, Sculptures in Bronze and Wood by Chana Orloff, September 1921, p. 38
Town and Country, February 1, 1923, p. 26 
Félix Marcilhac, Chana Orloff: Catalogue de l'Oeuvre sculpté, Paris, 1991, p. 204, no. 13, illustration of another example p. 25 and p. 205

Warm brown mottled patina. Scattered small cracks from shrinkage, also a few expertly repaired cracks from shrinkage noticeable on the front, neck, back of hair, back and along left arm. A few pre-existing spots of vermiculation, probably present when sculpture was carved. Slight wear at extremities particularly at bottom edge. One active vertical crack on the right of the sculpture from bottom to half way between the hand and shoulder. Please refer to department for photograph of vertical crack and additional information.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1905, Chana Orloff, her parents and 8 brothers and sisters fled the small village of Staro-Konstaninov in the Ukraine and settled in Petah-Tikva, then part of Palestine. Five years later she moved to Paris hoping to improve her skills as a seamstress and to earn money to help support her large family. Upon her arrival, she became fascinated with the poets, writers and artists that defined the creative milieu of Montparnasse, the center of expatriate Jewish artistic life. There she studied sculpture at the Russian Academy and established a rapport with fellow Jewish artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and Ossip Zadkine. 

In 1913, she entered two busts at the eleventh annual Salon d'Automne, her first public exhibition. Established as an alternative to the more conservative exhibitions associated with the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the Salon d'Automne became a prestigious showcase for the artists of Montparnasse and other adherents of the avant-garde. One of Orloff's two submissions was our sculpture, lot 79. Her choice of this particular pear wood bust for such an important moment in her young career highlights the significance it must have held for her – both artistically and emotionally. She exhibited the sculpture again in 1916 at Galerie Bernheim Jeune where artists such as Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault and Kees Van Dongen had been shown in the previous year. While our version of Femme qui croises les bras is the first version of this model, Orloff sculpted the same subject in terra cotta, bronze, cast stone, marble and plaster – a practice she continued with other works throughout her life.

In the accompanying photograph, Figure 1, we see Orloff seated in her atelier in Paris circa 1916 surrounded by sculpture, including what appears to be a plaster or cast stone version of lot 79. 

In 1917 Orloff held an exhibition in her Paris atelier. Once again she included Femme qui croises les bras along with other carved wood sculptures. Some time after this date, the sculpture was acquired by Malvina Hoffman, a prominent expatriate American sculptor who became known for her bronzes which celebrate people from all parts of the world.

Hoffman and Orloff had much in common. Both women arrived in Paris in 1910 and traveled in the same artistic circles. Hoffman admired and met key intellectual figures such as Henri Matisse, Gertrude Stein and Anna Pavlova, who were also known to Orloff. And each was, of course, a sculptor and an expatriate woman in the arts.

Exactly when Hoffman acquired Femme qui croises les bras is not known. Our work was illustrated in the American publication Vanity Fair in 1921 along with other works by Orloff. It was published again in Town & Country in 1923 identified as belonging to Hoffman and having recently arrived in the United States for the 1923 Brooklyn Museum exhibition of Russian Painting and Sculpture. The sculpture has remained in Hoffman's family since that time and has not been exhibited again until today.

Orloff's Polish friend, Pauline Lindelfeld, was the model and inspiration for the sculpture, which has a strong meditative sense imparted by the stylized appearance similar to both the medievalizing sculpture of Ernst Barlach and the harmonious simplifications of form of Modigliani.  A sense of inward-looking serenity is quite apparent, thus it is interesting to note that Lindelfeld herself was a spiritual person who later withdrew from society.

The marble version of Femme qui croises les bras is in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum.  Our auction marks the 40^th anniversary of Chana Orloff's death.