Imogen Racz Volume 1
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HENRI LAURENS AND THE PARISIAN AVANT-GARDE IMOGEN RACZ NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 099 19778 0 -' ,Nesis L6 VOLUME 1 Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD. The University of Newcastle. 2000. Abstract This dissertation examines the development of Henri Laurens' artistic work from 1915 to his death in 1954. It is divided into four sections: from 1915 to 1922, 1924 to 1929, 1930 to 1939 and 1939 to 1954. There are several threads that run through the dissertation. Where relevant, the influence of poetry on his work is discussed. His work is also analyzed in relation to that of the Parisian avant-garde. The first section discusses his early Cubist work. Initially it reflected the cosmopolitan influences in Paris. With the continuation of the war, his work showed the influence both of Leonce Rosenberg's 'school' of Cubism and the literary subject of contemporary Paris. The second section considers Laurens' work in relation to the expanding art market. Laurens gained a number of public commissions as well as many ones for private clients. Being site specific, all the works were different. The different needs of architectural sculpture as opposed to studio sculpture are discussed, as is his use of materials. Although the situation was not easy for avant-garde sculptors, Laurens became well respected through exposure in magazines and exhibitions. The third section considers Laurens in relation to the depression and the changing political scene. Like many of the avant-garde, he had left wing tendencies, which found form in various projects, including producing a sculpture for the Ecole Karl Marx at Villejuif. Patronage virtually ceased. However, Laurens was frequently included in articles in avant-garde journals and exhibited widely. The fourth section begins with the war. Laurens continued to live and work in Paris but was not included in official exhibitions. After the war, the press and State, which had largely disregarded members of the tcole de Paris, reversed this trend. As well as revisiting old sculptural themes, Laurens illustrated a number of books. Acknowledgements Many people have been helpful and encouraging over the last five years. In particular I would like to thank my supervisor Professor John Milner who gave good advice, nudged me in directions which proved interesting and fruitful and was unfailingly supportive and helpful. I would also like to give particular thanks to the Laurens family. M. and Mme. Claude Laurens were immensely courteous and helpful. They invited me to their house, answered my many questions with patience and care and showed me their archive and collection. I look back on those hours with pleasure and realize that without this input, I would have understood so much less and the dissertation would have been less rounded. I would also like to thank M. Quentin Laurens and the Galerie Louise Leiris who showed me their photograph albums, courteously answered questions and let me see an exhibition before it was open to the public. My research took me to many libraries in England. In particular I would like to thank the librarians at Coventry University, Birmingham University, Warwick University, Manchester Metropolitan University, the Courtauld Institute and the National Art Library. I also used many archives and libraries in France. Again I would like to thank the librarians at the Centre George Pompidou, the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, the Bibliotheque Forney, Bibliotheque d'Art et d'Archeologie Jacques Doucet, Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville de Paris, Bibliothêque Nationale, the Bibliothêque de l'Opera, the Biblioteque Municipale Drouot, Centre national de la cinernatographie, Archives Photographique de la Caisse National des Monuments Historiques, the Archive at the mairie at Hyêres and the archive at the wonderful museum at Villeneuve d'Ascq. At the Centre George Pompidou I would particularly like to thank Mme. Willer-Perrard who showed me all the files on Laurens' work and invited me to lunch, Mme. Bregegere who helped explain the system when it appeared baffling and Mme. Sorin who showed me photographs and was patient and helpful. M. Jaeger at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher gave me tea, courtesy and showed me his lovely collection of works by Laurens and his cahier d'or at a time when I was wondering why I was researching someone as elusive as Laurens. That morning set me back on track. I would also like to thank my long suffering friends whom I have alternately bored with my enthusiasm and ignored when I had a deadline. Kath Twigg was always ready to listen and encourage on our many trips to the botanical gardens. Joan Gibbons also listened and offered helpful suggestions. Finally, I would like to thank my husband Mark who has been unfailingly supportive. He has been ready to discuss ideas, find obscure books, been enthusiastic about my endeavors, and as a tour de force, proof read the manuscript. This would not have been written without him. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements Preface 1 Section I. Cubism1915-1922 1 Early Work and Cosmopolitan Cubism 5 Introduction 5 Papiers colles 9 Sculptures 13 2. Laurens and Rosenberg 19 Relations between Laurens and Rosenberg 19 Sales 24 Working Methods 29 3. The Spiritual, Grace and Tradition 33 Tradition 33 Artistic Spirituality 40 4. Modern Woman 49 Introduction 49 Illustrations for Spirales 51 Contemporary Magazines 53 Téte Series 57 Standing and Reclining Nudes 69 5. Modern Man 75 Sporting Images 75 Modern Man 84 6. Still Life 90 Subject 90 Materials and structure 94 Signs 99 Collectors 104 Musical Instruments 109 Section 2. Laurens and the Expansion of the Art Market in the 1920s 1. Introduction 114 2. Working Method, Materials and Style. 1924-1930 115 Working methods 115 Style 121 3. Growth of Recognition 131 Sales and Gallery Exhibitions 131 Magazines and Books 142 4. Commissions 151 Public Commissions 151 Train bleu 151 1925 Exposition internationale des arts 157 dacoratifs et industriels modernes Hall of the Ambassador 161 Private Commissions 1924-1930 166 Tomb Sculpture 166 Sculpture for Jacques Doucet's House at Many 168 Sculpture for Villa Noailles at Hy6res 170 Section 3. Laurens: Art and Politics in the 1930s 1. Introduction 180 2. The State of Art 1929-1936 186 State Commissions 191 3. Art and Politics 196 The Ecole Karl Marx at Villejuif 206 Myth 210 Cahiers d'art 217 4. Exhibitions 1936-1937 220 1936: Cubism and Abstract Art, New York 220 1937: Maitres de l'art independant, Paris, 1937 223 1937: Exposition internationale des arts et 225 techniques dans la vie moderne Palais de la d6couverte 227 Sêvres Pavilion 230 Pavilion des Temps Nouveaux 232 Section 4. Laurens, The War and After 1. The War 237 2. After the War 251 3. Recognition 264 Bibliography 268 Volume 2 List of illustrations Illustrations SECTION 1 Cubism 1915 to 1922 4 Early Work and Cosmopolitan Cubism Introduction The first surviving works by Henri Laurens that can be dated with any certainty are from 1915. 1 Although Laurens was introduced to the Cubists in 1911, his style did not immediately change from one allied to his artisan's training. It appears that for a few years he was simultaneously working on decorative and studio sculpture. By 1915 however, Laurens was drawing and sculpting exclusively in a manner that showed the influence of the Futurist and Russian artists who were in Paris at the time, as well as the Cubists. Laurens was close to Picasso, Braque and Gris. He was also close to many writers and musicians, including Reverdy and Satie. His early work has affinities with the broad spectrum of international ideas in Paris. From around 1917, his work changed to embrace a more French flavour, although still drawing on ideas from all three arts. Laurens came from an artisanal family. He was born in 1885 and as a boy lived in Le Faubourg Saint-Denis. His father was a cooper.2 He decided to become a sculptor when ten, and at fourteen entered L'ecole d'art industriel Bernard Palissy to become an architectural decorator. 3 There he worked directly on stone and plaster decorations for buildings. It was not unusual for a sculptor to learn his trade as a decorative artisan. Rodin and Dalou, among others had a similar training.4 A photograph dated 1903, shows Laurens sitting in a studio with elaborate sculptural decorations of scrolls and Mady Ménier, 'Henri Laurens et le cubisme,' (Sainte-Etienne: Universitd de Sainte Etienne, travaux IV, 1973), 131. Laurens destroyed nearly everything prior to this date. 2 Catalogue, Henri Laurens retrospective, (Lille: Musde d'art moderne, Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1992), 274. 3 Ibid., and Bruno Voutiers, 'Sculpture. Laurens le modeste et le magnifique,' Le voix du nord, (6 et 7 decembre 1992), unpaged. Both had attended the trade school, the Petit Ecole, which had been established in 1767 for the express purposes of training artisans, including decorative sculptors. Frederic Grunfeld, Rodin. A Biography, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 17. 5 filigree work hanging on the wal1.5 Both Marthe and Claude Laurens wrote how he retained a close feeling for his tools and for the craft of sculpture. 6 Even much later, he continued to love his craft like an artisan. While learning his trade, he also attended an academy of drawing run by the sculptor Jaques Perrin. 7 From 1899 to 1905 Laurens worked in the builders' yards of Paris and it was there that he became interested in the decorative sculptures of the churches in the Ile de France. 8 This interest in the sculpture of Gothic and Romanesque churches was to continue through his life, and he made frequent visits to Chartres, Rampillon and St-Loup-de-Naud.