Man with Guitar
Artist
Jacques Lipchitz
Druskieniki, Lithuania, 1891 – Capri 1973
Title
Man with Guitar
Date
1920
Materials
Bronze, edition of 7
Dimensions
52.8 x 27.2 x 25 cm
Credits
Purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest, inv. 1972.61
Collection
Western Art
Jacob Lipschitz, called Jacques Lipchitz, moved to Paris in 1909. A pioneer of Cubist sculpture, he drew inspiration from the abstract character of African sculpture, employing simple geometric forms to represent several viewpoints simultaneously. The sources for his series of musicians include the multicoloured costumes worn by the Pierrots and Harlequins of Italy’s commedia dell’arte, still lifes and the carved Rococo decorations of musical instruments. In his memoirs the artist describes his Man with Guitar as a transitional work, with a hypnotic gaze and a totemic presence: “Now completely frontalized, composed of massive, integrated blocks ... it has a monumental feeling about it that indicates a subconscious desire to work on a much larger scale.”
© All rights reserved, family of Jacques Lipchitz
