Gaston Lachaise

Gaston Lachaise, New York
C. W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York (acquired from the above by 1925)
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (acquired from the above)
Purchased at the above by the present owner, 1968

A. E. Gallatin, ed., Gaston Lachaise: Sixteen Reproductions in Collotype of the Sculptor’s Work, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1924, p. 51
Virginia Budny, “Gaston Lachaise’s American Venus: The Genesis and Evolution of Elevation,” American Art Journal, vols. 34–35, 2003-2004, p. 103, fig. 34, and pp. 138-139, no. 108

in good condition, generally, although patina is worn--most evident on the back of the figure where original bronze is exposed
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present statuette of a female nude is one of a series of twenty-five small bronze figures created by Gaston Lachaise between 1906, when he moved from France to America, and 1917, when he was preparing for his first solo exhibition, to be held in New York City in the following year. The work is well documented by the artist himself. It was cast from a plaster model almost certainly made in 1915, the year in which he completed the full-size model of Woman (Elevation), and it very closely compares to that larger-than-life masterpiece of early twentieth-century American sculpture in terms of the subject’s voluptuous body type, tip-toed stance, and even distinctive coiffure. Both sculptures were directly inspired by Isabel Nagle (1872-1957), whom he married in 1917, and were meant to convey his vision of her indomitable vitality as an expression of fundamental force. The statuette, viewed from the front, served as the source for the composition of a low relief, also dating from about 1915 and known from both an unpublished photograph of the relief’s (lost) plaster model and a unique bronze cast now in a private collection.

Although Lachaise made no other bronze casts of Woman (Standing Figure), he not only executed a high relief from the back of the work no later than 1927 (a bronze cast, now lost, is illustrated in Virginia Budny, “Gaston Lachaise’s American Venus: The Genesis and Evolution of Elevation,” American Art Journal, 34–35, 2003-2004, p. 103, figure 34), but also reworked the statuette’s plaster model so extensively that it is nearly unrecognizable. The Lachaise Foundation, Boston, owns both the high relief’s plaster model and the statuette’s reworked model, which has never been cast in bronze. It has assigned the inventory number LF 303 to the statuette’s plaster model in its original state (recorded in an unpublished photograph taken for the sculptor) and to the present cast.

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