Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

The Estate of the Artist
The Estate of Sophie Brzeska
H.S. Ede
Acquired from the above by the parents of the present owner, circa 1958

London, Arts Council of Great Britain, Henri-Gaudier Brzeska, An Exhibition of Sculpture, Pastels and Drawings, 1956, cat. no.42, (as Three Figures), where lent by H.S. Ede;
Paris, Centre Pompidou, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska dans les Collections du Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, 24th June - 14th September 2009, un-numbered, illustrated p.128, with tour to Musée des Beaux-arts d'Orléans, Orléans, where lent by the present owner.

H.S. Ede, A Life of Gaudier-Brzeska, William Heinemann Ltd., London, 1930, illustrated pl. LIV.

The following condition report has be prepared by Jane McAusland FIIC, Conservator and Restorer of Art on Paper, Nether Hall Barn, Old Newton, Nr. Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 4PP. Support: Gaudier-Brzeska has used a sheet of laid type paper showing the watermark INGRES. Artist pinholes show at the upper corners and the lower left edge is slightly uneven. Otherwise the sheet is in an excellent condition. Medium: The watercolour medium used by the artist appears to be quite fugitive in light and in my opinion there is quite a considerable drop back in tonality of the colours (the orange edge which lay under the mount, protected from light, proves this). The ink and pencil make a strong image however, and the present tones are balanced. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions. Housed behind Perspex with a thin light-wood frame and set within a cream card mount. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

By the time Henri Gaudier made this drawing in 1914 he had reached a level of abstraction in his sculptural ideas that freed him from concerns about realistic representation.  He used his drawings to explore the simplification of form, abstraction and monumentality he was striving to achieve in his sculpture.  As early as May and June 1911 he had written to Sophie Brzeska explaining his ideas: 

'Sculpture consists in placing planes according to a rhythm … I must impress on you again the mathematical side of sculpture. Take a cube it is beautiful because it has light and shade - now here is a collection of cubes which delights me.'

He continued to develop these principles right up to the height of his achievements in 1914 and 1915. This drawing is similar in style to a small number of other drawings completed at this time, for example, Dancer [on a yellow background], and several studies for Seated Woman. All use a similar technique with charcoal sometimes heavily cross hatched, and/or watercolour sometimes strengthened by heavy black paint to emphasize the strongest aspects of the geometric design. These techniques enabled him to confidently experiment with the possible juxtaposition of different geometric forms by rearranging them and then finally exaggerating those which he intended to be the strongest.

Although the drawings began as exploratory working studies they were often refined as the sculptural forms they anticipated were developed in stone in the studio. Seated Woman and Red Stone Dancer are just two of the sculptures for which there were several drawings created in this way and which show how the drawings and the sculptures were modified and developed alongside each other as the carving progressed. In this study, the head and torso of the central figure, coloured with a blue wash, emerges from a strong semicircular shape which is pivotal to the overall design. The angularity of all three heads is a repeated characteristic of other studies at this time in particular the large charcoal study of Woman with a Dog. 

Other artists working in England and France at this time were also abstracting the essential characteristics of human and animal forms in their drawings, paintings or sculpture. Gaudier knew of the work of Constantin Brancusi and Amedeo Modigliani and met Jacob Epstein in London. Epstein was interested in African art and shared with Gaudier his enthusiasm for how the formal and expressive lessons of ancient and non- European cultures could be absorbed into contemporary sculpture.

On the death of Henri Gaudier in 1915 his entire estate became the property of Sophie Brzeska. She died intestate in 1925 and her entire possessions were handed to the Treasury solicitor. Subsequently the estate was transferred to the National Gallery where it was valued for the state by the acknowledged art critic R.H. Wilenski. With the exception of one or two sculptures only, the whole estate was purchased by H.S. Ede.

Ede, known as Jim Ede, moved from London and purchased a house named Kettle's Yard in Cambridge where he set up a permanent exhibition of a selection of Gaudier's work. The remainder of the work was stored in a small locked top floor room from which selected drawings and sculptures were made available for purchase to discerning friends and collectors.

In 1930 Ede published a limited edition book of 350 copies entitled A Life of Gaudier Brzeska and this drawing was included in that book as a full page illustration Plate LIV.

Roger Cole