Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935)

'Woman'

Details

Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935)
'Woman'
stamped 'Lachaise Estate 2/11' (along the base)
bronze with brown patina
11½ in. (29.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Estate of Isabel Lachaise, wife of the artist.
[With]Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, California and Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, 1963.
Private collection, 1981.
Christie's, New York, 14 March 1991, lot 159.
Private collection.

Literature

Dial, vol. 81, no. 9, September 1926, facing p. 214, another example illustrated, as Woman.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gaston Lachaise 1882-1935: Sculpture and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles, California, 1963, no. 42, illustrated (as Back of Standing Nude, 1923-24; cast 1962).
Gallery of Modern Art, The Twenties Revisited, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1965, n.p., another example illustrated (as Back of Standing Nude, 1923-24).
D. Goodall, Gaston Lachaise: Sculptor, Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969, vol. I, 337, 407, notes 38-39; vol. 2, p. 77-78, plate XXXVI, 428, 437, plaster model illustrated (as Standing Nude, variously dated 1912-13, circa 1916-17, and 1923-24).
V. Budny, "Gaston Lachaise's American Venus: The Genesis and Evolution of Elevation," The American Art Journal, vols. 34-35, 2003-2004, pp. 96, 97, fig. 29, 98, 105, 107, 138, note 105, another example illustrated (as Woman, plaster model completed by 1917; first bronze cast by 1925).

Exhibited

Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gaston Lachaise 1882-1935: Sculpture and Drawings, December 3, 1963-January 19, 1964, no. 42.

Sale room notice

Please note the correct title for this sculpture is Woman.

Please note the additional information for this lot:
Provenance:
Estate of Isabel Lachaise, wife of the artist.
[With]Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, California and Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, 1963.
Private collection, 1981.
Christie's, New York, 14 March 1991, lot 159.
Private collection.
Exhibition:
Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gaston Lachaise 1882-1935: Sculpture and Drawings, December 3, 1963-January 19, 1964, no. 42.

Literature:
Dial, vol. 81, no. 9, September 1926, facing p. 214, another example illustrated, as Woman.
Gallery of Modern Art, The Twenties Revisited, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1965, n.p., another example illustrated (as Back of Standing Nude, 1923-24).
D. Goodall, Gaston Lachaise: Sculptor, Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969, vol. I, 337, 407, notes 38-39; vol. 2, p. 77-78, plate XXXVI, 428, 437, plaster model illustrated (as Standing Nude, variously dated 1912-13, circa 1916-17, and 1923-24).
V. Budny, "Gaston Lachaise's American Venus: The Genesis and Evolution of Elevation," The American Art Journal, vols. 34-35, 2003-2004, pp. 96, 97, fig. 29, 98, 105, 107, 138, note 105, another example illustrated (as Woman, plaster model completed by 1917; first bronze cast by 1925).

Lot Essay

Woman (LF 42), a high relief, was developed by Gaston Lachaise from the back half of a statuette of a lightly-draped nude dating from about 1912. By completely disengaging the woman from the viewer in this work, Lachaise enveloped her in a mysterious solitude. According to the artist's own records, the plaster model for the relief was made by 1917, and the first bronze was cast by 1925. That bronze cast is presently unlocated. Three others are known. An early cast belongs to a private collector. Two numbered Estate casts, including the present example, were made by an unidentified foundry in 1962. The plaster model is owned by the Lachaise Foundation.

We are grateful to Virginia Budny for preparing the catalogue entry for this work.

More from Fine American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture

View All