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
Jacques Lipchitz explored the possibilities of Cubism in three-dimensional space more thoroughly than any of his contemporaries. He was introduced to Pablo Picasso in 1913, a meeting that would influence his sculpture throughout the rest of his career. Bather III demonstrates Lipchitz’s stunning ability to apply Cubist theory to sculpture in the round.
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
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