Man with Guitar

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.”

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