'Amour' was most probably carved in the Spring of 1913 after Gaudier Brzeska had attended life classes during the autumn of 1912. In a letter to Sophie Brzeska, dated 14 November 1912, he remarks 'I went to life class. It is kept by four stupid old women. The model - a lovely young boy - wore a tiny little cloth, and the quick sketch wasn't a quick sketch at all. The model takes his own pose - which is, of course, a good thing - and keeps it for ten or fifteen minutes. I should have liked to have a model who didn't pose at all, but did everything he wanted to, walked, ran, danced, sat, etc. To-morrow we shall probably have a woman.'
(see H.S. Ede, Savage Messiah, London, 1931, p.191)

Alfred Wolmark had introduced Gaudier-Brzeska to Al Kohnstamm, the original owner of this piece. He had originally admired the artist's 'Maternity' group but had decided that is was too expensive.
(see H.S. Ede, loc. cit., p.240).

Jeremy Lewison (loc. cit.) groups 'Amour' with two other primitive bas relief sculptures, 'Weeping Woman' and 'Portrait of a Boy'. Indeed he suggests that 'Weeping Woman' may even have been intended as a companion piece for the present work. 'Amour' was originally gilded (this is still visible in parts), as noted by Gaudier-Brzeska and Pound, and had once had the title marked on the front of the base. The gilding was intended as a device to produce a fully three dimensional effect.

This work will be included in Dr. Evelyn Silber's forthcoming catalogue raisonné 'Gaudier-Brzeska, Art and Life', to be published by Thames & Hudson in the autumn of 1996.