Gaston Lachaise

Edward M.M. Warburg, 1933-1992
Acquired as a gift from the grandfather (above) of the present owner

Philadelphia Art Alliance, "Gaston Lachaise: Architectural and Smaller Sculptures," 1933
New York, Museum of Modern Art, "Gaston Lachaise, Retrospective Exhibition," 1935, p. 27, no. 53, illustrated
Ithaca, New York, The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; UCLA, Frederick S. Wight Galleries; Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, Gaston Lachaise, 1882-1935, 1974-1975, exhibition catalogue, [n.p.]
The Los Angeles Museum of Art, Gaston Lachaise, 1882-1935: Sculpture and Drawings, 1963-1964, [n.p.], no. 101, illustrated
New York, Salander O'Reilly Galleries, "Gaston Lachaise: Sculpture," 1992, pp. 65, 84, no. 28, illustrated

Gerald Nordland, Gaston Lachaise:  The Man and His Work, New York, 1974, pp. 149, 165, fig. 83, illustrated
Edward M. M. Warburg, As I Recall: Some Memoirs, [n.p.], 1978, p. 64, illustrated
Sam Hunter, Lachaise, New York, 1993, pp. xvi, 173-175, 244, illustrated
Nicholas Fox Weber, Patron Saints: Five Rebels Who Opened America to a New Art, 1928–1943, New York, 1992, p. 208

In good condition. Surface somewhat dirty. Some minor wear.
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Nothing is known about Gaston Lachaise's Breasts prior to January 1933, when he mentioned the sculpture in a letter to his wife, Isabel Dutaud Nagle (1872-1957) (letter of February 28, 1933, Lachaise Papers, The Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library). A month later, Edward M. M. Warburg saw the work in the artist's New York studio, at 55 West Eighth Street, and, according to Lachaise, was "terribly interested" in it (letter of February 28, 1933, to his wife, ibid.). On May 26th, Lachaise posed with the sculpture for Carl Van Vechten (see photo below right) and in June, the artist mounted it on its base for its new owner, at which time he reported to his wife: "I must say, it is something beautiful" (letters of June 14 and 15, 1933, ibid.)

Breasts, a high relief, is one of three marble sculptures of various parts of the female body that Warburg acquired from Lachaise within a two-year period. The other works are Knees (Museum of Modern Art, New York), which was purchased by Warburg in May 1932 and completed by Lachaise in January 1933; and Torso (Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts), which was completed in May 1933. Lachaise, who had become proficient in carving stone early in his career, delighted in working with hard materials, and executed these three sculptures by himself.

The Lachaise Foundation has given Breasts the number 101.

We are grateful to Virginia Budny for her assistance in preparing the catalogue entry for this work.