- 201
Jacques Lipchitz
Description
- Jacques Lipchitz
- Baigneuse III
- Inscribed Lipchitz, numbered 3/7 and stamped with the artist's thumbprint
- Bronze
- Height: 28 in.
- 71 cm
Provenance
Literature
Alan G. Wilkinson, Jacques Lipchitz, A Life in Sculpture, (exhibition catalogue), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1989, no. 23, illustration of another cast p. 82
Alan G. Wilkinson, The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz, a Catalogue Raisonné, the Paris Years, 1910-1940, vol. I, New York, 1996, no. 62, illustration of another cast p. 111
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
“In the sculpture which followed, Lipchitz began to show his grasp of the cubists’ analysis and penetration of form. His figures were represented as if seen from many angles and perspectives, often with a richly broken up surface of deep and shallow facets. Yet the subordination of parts to the whole, and the overall effect of agitated movement, conflicting with the sheer, static mass of stone gives these sculptures a quality that is unique in cubist art” (Henry R. Hope, The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1954, p. 11).
The sculpture that he created between 1917 and 1919 has much more freedom of movement than his earlier sculpture which was infused with a dynamic geometric rhythm. His close association with Juan Gris brought new ideas to his art.
“Lipchitz said that after his realization that Cubism meant construction rather than simplification or abstraction, he changed his approach. Instead of paring down from nature, he began by imagining some forms, some movement, and then from these made a figure…In other words, rather than reducing from life, he was thinking first about a construction, an abstract idea, and trying to give it life” (Deborah A. Scott, Jacques Lipchitz and Cubism, New York, 1978, p. 10). His integrated network of flat planes and bulging forms, curves and angles and convex and concave surfaces are based in abstraction yet the form is recognizable. The anatomical components of Baigneuse III are clearly defined; they are based on human proportion and then given a new life.