Elie Nadelman

Viola Spiess Flannery Nadelman (the artist's wife)

Private Collection

Christie's, New York, 23 May 1996, lot 85 (consigned by the above)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Lincoln Kirstein, Elie Nadelman, New York, 1973, no. 176, p. 304

Conceived and cast in 1935, Elie Nadelman’s Gymnast captures an athlete poised in the midst of a perfect straight-body handstand. Cast in bronze and mounted atop a green marble base, the sculpture exemplifies Nadelman’s exceptional command of form and balance. Known for his sculptural explorations of pure shape, merging classical ideals with elements of folk art, Nadelman’s range extended from idealized heads and animal figures to genre subjects drawn from everyday life, such as acrobats, circus performers, and dancers. In Gymnast, the artist distills motion into stillness, transforming a fleeting act of athletic grace into a timeless study of proportion, discipline, and harmony. The polished surface and elegant verticality reflect Nadelman’s enduring pursuit of beauty through simplicity, where physical precision becomes an expression of sculptural poise and poetic form.