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Lot Essay
Now one of Spain’s most celebrated modern sculptors, Julio Gonzalez was the son of a metalworker and after studying painting in the vibrant Paris of the early 20th Century, would later return to his heritage to become a crucial innovator and collaborator in the development of a new modern sculpture. Working with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi and David Smith, his proficiency in cutting, sculpting, welding and discovering the possibilities of metal was fundamental in the development of new techniques that would produce some of their most ambitious projects as well as his own unique brand of sculpture.
The simple and yet potent expression of Masque couché is achieved through the immediacy of its technique; directly carved into an existing solid block, originally conceived in plaster, generating a dynamic, multifaceted, linear form. This echoes the same influence of Oceanic and African sculpture that can be seen in the work of Picasso and Georges Braque and which contributed towards the inception of Cubism, and also André Breton and the Surrealists, many of whom collected and were inspired by non-European art forms.
The weight and symmetry of Masque couché combine to produce a sense of monumentality and permanence; at the same time contrasted by the fragility of its evidently human expressiveness. The the large, closed mask-like eyes and small pursed mouth draw inward, suggesting meditation, reflection or disguise; a removal from the perceptive and outward-looking body into the inner mind or suggested spiritual entity.
Gonzalez’s sculptural investigations into the head or mask can be seen thoughout his oeuvre with the figure and face of Montserrat featuring heavily in the artist’s work during this time; a potent motif of a recoiling paysanne, a symbol of resistance to the atrocities of war. The famous Virgin of Montserrat in Barcelona also bears resemblence to Masque couché in the summetry and the large almond eyes and direct, frontal composition.
Examples of this cast are rarely seen to the market with examples held in public collections such as the Musée Reina Sofia, Madrid and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
The simple and yet potent expression of Masque couché is achieved through the immediacy of its technique; directly carved into an existing solid block, originally conceived in plaster, generating a dynamic, multifaceted, linear form. This echoes the same influence of Oceanic and African sculpture that can be seen in the work of Picasso and Georges Braque and which contributed towards the inception of Cubism, and also André Breton and the Surrealists, many of whom collected and were inspired by non-European art forms.
The weight and symmetry of Masque couché combine to produce a sense of monumentality and permanence; at the same time contrasted by the fragility of its evidently human expressiveness. The the large, closed mask-like eyes and small pursed mouth draw inward, suggesting meditation, reflection or disguise; a removal from the perceptive and outward-looking body into the inner mind or suggested spiritual entity.
Gonzalez’s sculptural investigations into the head or mask can be seen thoughout his oeuvre with the figure and face of Montserrat featuring heavily in the artist’s work during this time; a potent motif of a recoiling paysanne, a symbol of resistance to the atrocities of war. The famous Virgin of Montserrat in Barcelona also bears resemblence to Masque couché in the summetry and the large almond eyes and direct, frontal composition.
Examples of this cast are rarely seen to the market with examples held in public collections such as the Musée Reina Sofia, Madrid and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.