news release The Metropolitan Museum of Art

For Release: Immediate Contact: Harold Holzer Margaret Doyle

THE HUMAN FIGURE IN TRANSITION, 1900-1945: AMERICAN FROM THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTION

Exhibition dates: April 15 - September 28,1997 Exhibition location: Design and Architecture Gallery, Lila Acheson Wallace Wing

The Human Figure in Transition, 1900-1945: American Sculpture from the Museum's Collection — a new exhibition exploring the ways in which the expressive potential of the figure was realized by American sculptors from the beginning of the century through the second World War ~ is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 15 through September 28. The 39 in the exhibition highlight dominant and emerging stylistic trends in sculpture during the first half of the 20th century, demonstrating the influence of the Impressionist modeling of , the formal revolutions of , and the interest in African, Pre-Columbian, and folk art. The Human Figure in Transition includes small-scale sculptures that trace the artistic, cultural, and historical influences that contributed to the range of styles between 1900 and 1945. The Impressionist influence, prevalent at the turn of the century and embodied in the works of Auguste Rodin, is clearly demonstrated in such works as Malvina Hoffman's Baccanale Russe (1912) and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Caryatid(1913). The sculpture of ancient Greece also was a source of inspiration at this time, and is evident in Paul Manship's Dryad (1913) and The Wrestlers (1915). Modern classicism is evoked equally in Elie Nadelman's gilded bronze Standing Nude (ca. 1908) and Leo Friedlander' s The Bacchante (1916).

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Communications Department 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028-0198 212-570-3951 Fax 212-472-2764 Max Weber, who was among the first American artists to master the Cubist style, created a work that is clearly reminiscent of the figures in Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon with his Figure in Rotation (ca. 1915-17). Cubism's contributions to sculpture also are evident in works such as Boris Blai's Triangle Girl (ca. 1928) and Herzl Emmanuel's Spain (ca. 1930-40). The Human Figure in Transition demonstrates the versatility of the nude as a vehicle for stylistic experimentation with pieces such as Gaston Lachaise's voluptuous Female Torso (1924) and Saul Baizerman'sMaw of the Field (ca. 1931-39), a large sheet of copper hammered into an expressive and impressionistic form. The stylistic influences of African, Pre-Columbian, and folk art — known as Primitivism ~ and the technique of direct carving of wood or stone into is demonstrated in 's Melisande (1931). More widely known for their abstract works, is represented here in an early woodcarving, Woman (1926), and Isamu Noguchi in Lillian Gish (1937), a Botticino marble that is one of several portrait busts he carved in the 1920s and '30s. All works in the exhibition are selected from the Metropolitan Museum's 20th- century art collection, with the exception of Mother and Child (1942) by Elizabeth Catlett, an African-American sculptor living in , and Mother Earth (1935) by Nathaniel Kaz. A series of educational programs, including lectures, gallery talks, films, and programs for students, will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition, and an illustrated brochure will be available in the gallery. The Human Figure in Transition, 1900-1945: American Sculpture from the Museum s Collection is curated by Lowery Stokes Sims, Curator in the Metropolitan Museum's Department of 20th Century Art, with the assistance of Deborah Goldberg, the Chester Dale Fellow in the Department of 20th Century Art. The exhibition's designer is David Harvey, Senior Exhibition Designer, with graphics by Constance M. Norkin, Graphic Designer.

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April 18,1997