NARRATOR:
A native of Lithuania, Jacques Lipchitz immigrated to Paris in 1909. He is widely recognized as one of the major Cubist sculptors, and Bather III from 1917 is characteristic of his work.
This statue attempts in bronze what the cubists had been doing in painting. Notice how fragments of form push upward and jut out in small ledges, creating a near abstract design. Diagonal planes penetrate the vertical axis, a brilliant exercise in multiple perspectives, contrasted by gently curving lines. Only occasionally does an isolated hand, an elbow, foot or belly button remind us of the naked human figure depicted here.
Lipchitz began by modeling this sculpture in clay, a practice that dated from his student days:
Craftsmen translated his original clay models into plaster, then executed them in bronze or stone. Unlike, Auguste Rodin, who cast as many bronzes of a given work as the market demanded, Lipchitz issued limited editions, each work cast under his direct supervision and finished by his own hand.
Many of Lipchitz’s sculptures were later lost or destroyed. To hear this remarkable story, press 3531.
Bather III
1917; cast 1959
Jacques Lipchitz (French, 1891-1973)
On View
Born in Lithuania, Chaim Jacob Lipchitz moved to Paris at age 18, immersing himself in an avant-garde group of artists that included Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris. Like many of his peers, Lipchitz was inspired by Cubism and incorporated this approach to abstraction into his sculptural practice. Bather III interprets the human form as a column of cascading shapes, punctuated with subtle references to facial features, limbs and a belly button. Lipchitz sculpted versions of seated, standing and walking bathers throughout his career, ranging from the miniature to the larger-than-life. By choosing a recognizable figurative subject, Lipchitz emphasized the radicality of his fragmentary approach.
Details
- Artist Name: Jacques Lipchitz (French, 1891-1973)
- Title: Bather III
- Date: 1917; cast 1959
- Medium: Bronze
- Edition: Edition of 7, Cast No. 6
- Dimensions: 28 x 10 x 10 1/2 in. (71.1 x 25.4 x 26.7 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1968.09.S
Object Information
Lipchitz: The Cubist Period 1913-1930
- New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, 1968-03 to 1968-04
[on loan]
- Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), 1968-06-01 to 1969-03-15
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969-10-09 to
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1971-05 to 1972-07-11
The Cubist Epoch
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1970-12-15 to 1971-02-21
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1971-04-07 to 1971-06-07
Reinstallation of South Wing
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-10-07 to 1995-08-13
- Wilkinson, Allan G., The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné, no. 62 p. 47
- Gazette des Beaux Arts, fig. 17 p. 16
- Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Inc., Lipchitz, The Cubist Period 1913-1930, 1968, no. 28
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 446 p. 298
Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.
Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.
Please allow up to four weeks for your request to be reviewed. Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.