Sculpture Since Rodin

Yale University and Yale University Art Gallery are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toBulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale.

http://www.jstor.org

Yale University

Sculpture since Rodin Author(s): Lamont Moore Source: Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale, Vol. 17, No. 1, Sculpture since Rodin (Jan

., 1949)Published by: , acting through the Yale University Yale University Art GalleryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40513674Accessed: 12-08-2015 21:07 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 83.137.211.198 on Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:07:29 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=yaleuniv

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=yuag

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40513674

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp



RODIN, Auguste 30. THE THINKER

Photograph of cast owned by The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio.



Catalogue oí Exhibition

SCULPTURE SINCE RODIN

January 14 through February 13

1949

Yale University Art Gallery

New Haven, Connecticut



The Gallery gratefully acknowledges loans to the exhibition from the following:

Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Buchholz Gallery, New York

Miss Katherine S. Dreier, Milford, Connecticut

Mr. Naum Gabo, Woodbury, Connecticut

Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, New York

Mrs. Aldus C. Higgins, Worcester, Massachusetts

Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Port Chester, New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Miller Company, Meriden, Connecticut

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Mr. Isamu Noguchi, New York

Betty Parsons Gallery, New York

Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d, New York

Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York

Mr. Henry Rox, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts



FOREWORD

Auguste Rodin, the great French sculptor, sketched his "Gate of Hell/7 he

placed "The Thinker" over the double doors. This figure, made famous by repetitions large and small, became the sculptor's most noted work, typical of him in that it was a bronze depicting an heroic form. Rodin, as the inheri- tor of sculptural ages before him, the Greek and Roman, the Gothic and the Renaissance, combined ideas from the past with those of his own and his period so that he stands as the expression of his sculptural age. Let us imagine that his figure of "The Thinker" symbolized the art of sculpture at the turn of the century, sculpture like one of its favored subjects, Hercules, in this case debating at the cross- roads the course he was to follow.

As the history of sculpture in the twenti- eth century has proven, broadly stated, it chose to travel three roads: sculpture devel-

oped around natural forms, sculpture de-

veloped away from natural forms, and

sculpture developed out of form, space, color, motion. The first represents the type which we know best: sculpture which presents usually the human figure, recognizable as such, whether it was serenely "classic" as in the work of Despiau, Maillol, Kolbe and Nadelman, expressive of emotion in the German group of Barlach and Marcks, or idealized and made

mysterious in the work of Lehmbruch; the

arrangement and weight, the masses of the human body formed the core of this sculpture, with surfaces smooth for the light to caress, or ridged and broken for the light to strike. More recent and contemporary sculptors have chosen to invest their works with varying char- acteristics, ebullient, grotesque, humorous or the seriously emotional, and in this group we find Lachaise, Robus, Laurent and Rox. That these sculptors have extended the possibilities of adherence to natural form and at the same time maintained the traditions inherited from the past is proof that this kind of sculpture has

by no means become quiescent. The middle road, sculpture developed

away from natural forms even so far as to reach a point of complete abstraction, in-

cludes the largest number of recent and contemporary sculptors, some of whom have chosen to follow this road the entire way, others only so far and then developed their style at that particular point.

The flattened planes, a tendency toward angularity, show the beginnings in such work as Underwood's. These find more developed expression in the sculpture related to cubist painting, the frankly geometric and assembled elements of Archipenko and Pevsner, the glyptic early Lipchitz and Zadkine. Quite different from the squared facets of the Lipchitz, Flannagan's rugged treatment of his stone produces a timeless aspect in his work. These two pieces illustrate the importance of the material in the eyes of the modern sculptor, how it may be treated in different ways and yet preserve its own character whether it is stone, metal or plastic. In contrast, the later pieces by Lipchitz are explosive, ener- getic, further along the way toward complete abstraction which is reached in diverse forms by Brancusi, Storrs, Hare and Noguchi. In fact, the word "diverse" might be applied to the work of these sculptors who have followed the middle road, obviously not a conservative well-worn path, but leading to enlarged expe- rience of forms as seen in nature.

Sculpture developed out of form and

space is a comparatively recent manifestation in the history of art. Followers of this third road employ elements hitherto unused, or pre- viously used only as contributing factors. One of these elements is space calculated in pro- portion to the tangible elements in the sculpture. Whether these compositions of space and matter are devised in terms of precision as in the work of Gabo, in terms of color as in the work of de Rivera, in terms of color and motion as in the work of Calder, or in terms of

expression as in the work of Lipton, space and form are closely interrelated and considered of equal importance. Such pieces of sculpture to a greater or lesser degree follow laws current in contemporary architectural design and indicate possibilities for future integration of

sculpture with the mother of the arts.



The work of one artist may fall into sev- eral divisions, may show constant develop- ment and in some cases relate to all three of the approaches to sculpture herein, of neces- sity, briefly and categorically presented. As examples of sculpture which exhibit combined elements sufficiently defined to be readily sensed, the works of Moore and Callery may be cited. Both use the subject of recognizable human form, in the case of Moore, impos- ingly - though the scale is sometimes small, the effect aims toward grandeur and im- pressiveness. In the case of Callery the linear, rhythmic elements produce an effect of gaiety and humor no less valid for a sculptural work. Both sculptors simplify the human form to a point where it approaches abstraction. Both use space consciously, Callery in an expansive

way, Moore in a restrained way. Thus these two artists combine the current trends in sculpture as do many others presented in the exhibition.

In planning this exhibition, most appro- priately but inexorably, space has presented a problem. The artists represented could have been more comprehensively shown if unlimited space were available, and there are many sculptors omitted whose works, for the same reason, might well have been presented. It is hoped that they will be included in future exhibitions and that the present one will increase awareness of the intent, techniques, and aesthetics of contemporary sculpture, thereby creating a more perceptive audience for sculpture of the future.

LAMONT MOORE



CATALOGUE

ARCHIPENKO, Alexander 1. THE METAL LADY Copper and brass, 1923

Yale University Art Gallery Gift of Katherine S. Dreier for the

Collection Société Anonyme

BARLACH, Ernst 2. SINGING MAN 1870-1938 Bronze, 1928

Lent by The Museum of Modern Art, New York The Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Purchase Fund

BRANCUSI, Constantin 3. BIRD AT REST Marble

Lent by Miss Katherine S. Dreier, Milford, Connecticut

CALDER, Alexander 4. BOUGAINVILLEA Sheet metal and wire, 1947 Lent by The Miller Company, Meriden, Connecticut

CALLERY, Mary 5. FLOATING FIGURE Bronze, glass and wood, 1947

Lent by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d, New York

6. AMITY (STUDY) Bronze, 1946

Lent by The Miller Company, Meriden, Connecticut

DESPIAU, Charles 7. SEATED YOUTH: MONUMENT TO EMIL MAYRISCH 1874-1946 Bronze, 1932

Lent by The Museum of Modern Art, New York Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

FLANNAGAN, John B. 8. TRIUMPH OF THE EGG I 1889-1942 Granite, 1937

Lent by The Museum of Modern Art, New York

GABO, Naum 9- KINETIC STONE Portland stone, 1936

Lent by the artist

10. SPHERIC THEME, VARIATION II Translucent Plastic, 1937

Lent by the artist

HARE, David 11. THE RED KNIGHT Plaster, 1943

Collection of the Yale University Art Gallery Gift of Peggy Guggenheim



KOLBE, Georg 12. JUNGE FRAU 1877-1947 Bronze, 1929


LACHAISE, Gaston 13. STANDING WOMAN 1882-1935 Bronze, 1927

Lent anonymously through the courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts

LAURENT, Robert 14. AMERICAN BEAUTY Alabaster, 1933

Lent by The Museum of Modern Art, New York The Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Purchase Fund

LEHMBRUCH, Wilhelm 15. TORSO 1881-1919 Cast stone, 1910

Lent by the Buchholz Gallery, New York

LIPCHITZ, Jacques 16. PEGASUS (STUDY) Bronze, 1944


17. PROMETHEUS Bronze, 1942

Lent by Mrs. Aldus C. Higgins, Worcester, Massachusetts

18. RAPE OF EUROPA II Bronze, 1938

Lent by The Museum of Modern Art, New York Given Anonymously

19. MAN WITH MANDOLIN Stone, 1916-1917

Yale University Art Gallery Collection Société Anonyme

LIPTON, Seymour 20. MOLOCH Bronze, 1946

Lent by the Betty Parsons Gallery, New York

MAILLOL, Aristide 21. WOMAN WITH CRAB 1861-1944 Bronze, 1905

Lent anonymously through the courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts

MARCKS, Gerhard 22. GIRL WITH HAT Bronze, 1948




MOORE, Henry 23. FAMILY Bronze, 1946

Lent by Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhom, Port Chester, New York

24. RECLINING FIGURE Elm wood, 1935

Lent by the Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

NADELMAN, Elie 25. HEAD 1882-1946 Marble, 1922

Lent by Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, New York

NOGUCHI, Isamu 26. TO THE SUNFLOWER Green slate, 1948

Lent by the artist

PEVSNER, Antoine 27. PORTRAIT OF DUCHAMP Celluloid on zinc, 1926

Yale University Art Gallery Collection Société Anonyme

de RIVERA, Jose 28. BLACK, YELLOW AND RED Painted metal, 1942


ROBUS, Hugo 29. SONG Bronze, 1934 Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

RODIN, Auguste 30. THE THINKER 1840-1917 Bronze, 1879-1900

Lent by Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York

ROX, Henry 31. I WILL NOT LET THEE GO Terra cotta, 1945

Lent by the artist

STORRS, John 32. THE DANCER Terra cotta

Lent by Miss Katherine S. Dreier, Milford, Connecticut

UNDERWOOD, Leon 33. RUNNING TORSO Brass, 1930

Yale University Art Gallery Gift of Mr. Philip L. Goodwin

ZADKINE, Ossip 34. YOUNG GIRL WITH A BIRD Granite, 1938

Lent by the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts



DESPIAU, Charles 7. SEATED YOUTH: MONUMENT TO EMIL MAYRISCH

The Museum of Modern Art, New York



MARCKS, Gerhard 22. GIRL WITH HAT

Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d, New York



ROX, Henry 31. I WILL NOT LET THEE GO

Lent by the artist



ROBUS, Hugo 29. SONG

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York



UNDERWOOD, Leon 33. RUNNING TORSO




ZADKINE, Ossip 34. YOUNG GIRL WITH A BIRD

Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts



LIPCHITZ, Jacques 19. MAN WITH MANDOLIN




MOORE, Henry 24. RECLINING FIGURE

Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York



CALLERY, Mary 6. AMITY (STUDY)

The Miller Company, Meriden, Connecticut



BRANCUSI, Constantin 3. BIRD AT REST

Miss Katherine S. Dreier, Milford, Connecticut



GABO, Naum 9. KINETIC STONE

Lent by the artist



NOGUCHI, Iscmu 26. TO THE SUNFLOWER

Lent by the artist



Sculpture Since Rodin

Documents

Transcript of Sculpture Since Rodin