Lot 119
  • 119

Henri Laurens

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 USD
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Description

  • Henri Laurens
  • Femme agenouillĂ©e
  • Bronze
  • Height: 13 1/4 in.
  • 33.7 cm

Provenance

Galerie Simon, Paris (no. 11111/1)
Bucholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York
Mr. & Mrs. Stanley B. Resor, Greenwich, Connecticut (acquired from the above by 1945)
Private Collection, United States (by descent from the above)
Acquired from the above

Literature

Werner Hofmann, The Sculpture of Henri Laurens, New York, 1970, illustration of another cast p. 129

Condition

Bronze with a dark black-brown patina. There is some very light rubbing to the patina at the tip of the figure's extended toe. There are extremely minor spots of accretion at a fewplaces, for example within the crevice of the figure's hand at right as well as in the crease of the figure's hair at upper left. Original Galerie Simon label is affixed to the underside of the base. The work is in excellent 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.
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.

Catalogue Note

Conceived in 1929, Femme Agenouillée marks a significant point of transition for Laurens. The austere precision demanded by Laurens’ early Cubist style was abandoned in the 1920s as the artist sought to inject more expressiveness into his work. Along with his friends Braque and Gris, Laurens began to explore a type of Cubism that retained key elements of the style but incorporated greater naturalism; angular compositions are softened by the introduction of flowing forms, giving his sculpture a new sensuality. Femme Agenouillée retains the angularity characteristic of Cubism, yet the presented form is infused with fluidity and offers the viewer a very sensual pose—that of an odalisque, the traditional nineteenth-century motif, or something even earlier, as Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler describes: ‘‘Each of Laurens’ works is a consistent, integral whole, but at the same time it is imbued with a gentle sensuousness. His art is very French; its graceful, flowing forms remind me of the sixteenth-century sculptor Jean Goujon’’ (Werner Hofmann, The Sculpture of Henri Laurens, New York, 1970, p. 50).