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Lot Essay
Executed in 1937, Forme rigide is a dramatic and powerfully expressive sculpture that in the simplicity and geometric angularity of its forms at first seems to suggest a closeness to the aesthetics of constructivism. Of the ideals of constructivism, however, Gonzlez was somewhat critical in writing, "One will not make great art in making perfect circles and squares with the aid of a compass and ruler... . The truly novel works... are, quite simply, those which are directly inspired by Nature, and executed with love and sincerity." (Julio Gonzlez cited in, J. Withers, Julio Gonzlez: Sculpture in Iron, New York 1978, p. 76).
Originally intended to form part of a large and important free-standing sculpture that was never built but which was to have been a companion piece to Gonzlez's largest and single most important sculpture Femme au miroir, also of 1937, now in the Centro Julio Gonzlez in Valencia, the present work has survived as an independent sculpture in its own right.
As the 1937 drawing Abstrait attests, the powerful forms of the present work were to have formed the core of an elaborate and complex structure by representing the neck and arm of this extraordinary figure. Standing alone as an independent form however, Forme rigide establishes its own unique identity. Similar to Les deux mains (Lot 328), the two vertical forms of Forme rigide develop the appearance of a subject that was to preoccupy Gonzlez over the next three years; that of two outstretched arms reaching up to the heavens. More cubist in the angularity of its forms than Les deux mains, Forme rigide articulates a strong architectural biomorphism that with its elegant inverted arch joining the two limbs also anticipates the more delicate forms of L'homme gothique (Lot 368).
Striking in its strong silhouette, the subtle rotational twists of the forms in Forme rigide belie its title and create an articulate volume and spatial harmony that animates the sculpture's architectural structure with a gentle but persuasive life.
Originally intended to form part of a large and important free-standing sculpture that was never built but which was to have been a companion piece to Gonzlez's largest and single most important sculpture Femme au miroir, also of 1937, now in the Centro Julio Gonzlez in Valencia, the present work has survived as an independent sculpture in its own right.
As the 1937 drawing Abstrait attests, the powerful forms of the present work were to have formed the core of an elaborate and complex structure by representing the neck and arm of this extraordinary figure. Standing alone as an independent form however, Forme rigide establishes its own unique identity. Similar to Les deux mains (Lot 328), the two vertical forms of Forme rigide develop the appearance of a subject that was to preoccupy Gonzlez over the next three years; that of two outstretched arms reaching up to the heavens. More cubist in the angularity of its forms than Les deux mains, Forme rigide articulates a strong architectural biomorphism that with its elegant inverted arch joining the two limbs also anticipates the more delicate forms of L'homme gothique (Lot 368).
Striking in its strong silhouette, the subtle rotational twists of the forms in Forme rigide belie its title and create an articulate volume and spatial harmony that animates the sculpture's architectural structure with a gentle but persuasive life.