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Lot Essay
Gaudier's original painted and gilded plaster was commissioned in 1912. The 6 bronze casts plus 1 hors de commerce of which this is one, were cast by Fiorini in 1969-70.
The painted plaster from which these were made is in the collection of the Petit Palais, Geneva. 'The relief, together with other masks and tiles, was originally commissioned by the artist and theatre designer Claud Lovat Fraser who paid £5 for its casting in plaster by Parlanti. The original plaster was painted in crude, bright colours and gilded on parts of the face. Refering to his experiments at the time Gaudier wrote, 'Just as simple and bright as can be, I use the optic mixing of colours - putting them in pure pigments side by side'. The modelling of the mask was obviously based on his study of the primitive carvings and masks in the British Museum, where he was spending a great deal of his time drawing. The sculpture has little relationship, except for the surface decoration, with other work of the period, but was part of an overall search for a sculptural style' (see R. Cole, loc. cit., p. 51.) The plaster was exhibited at the Memorial Exhibition, 1918, and the Scottish National Gallery, 1972.
The painted plaster from which these were made is in the collection of the Petit Palais, Geneva. 'The relief, together with other masks and tiles, was originally commissioned by the artist and theatre designer Claud Lovat Fraser who paid £5 for its casting in plaster by Parlanti. The original plaster was painted in crude, bright colours and gilded on parts of the face. Refering to his experiments at the time Gaudier wrote, 'Just as simple and bright as can be, I use the optic mixing of colours - putting them in pure pigments side by side'. The modelling of the mask was obviously based on his study of the primitive carvings and masks in the British Museum, where he was spending a great deal of his time drawing. The sculpture has little relationship, except for the surface decoration, with other work of the period, but was part of an overall search for a sculptural style' (see R. Cole, loc. cit., p. 51.) The plaster was exhibited at the Memorial Exhibition, 1918, and the Scottish National Gallery, 1972.