Le Claire Kunst Seit 1982

LE CLAIRE KUNST SEIT 1982

HENRI LAURENS 1885 - Paris - 1954

Femme à l’oiseau

Terracotta, 1921-2. Cast 2/10 from a total edition of 10. Bearing the incised cast inscription: 2/10. 34.3 cm x 11.0 cm x 7.0 cm

PROVENANCE: Galerie Louise Leiris (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris (with gallery label numbered: 7077/7524) – Private collection, Switzerland

EXHIBITION: Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Henri Laurens (1885-1954), 60 Terres Cuites, 1998, no. 23.

LITERATURE: Marthe Laurens, Henri Laurens, Sculpteur 1885-1954, Paris 1955, no. 28, (repr. of another cast) – Documenta III, Internationale Ausstellung, exhib. cat., Kassel 1964, vol. I: Malerei und Skulptur, Cologne 1964, p. 62 and p. 65 (repr. of another cast), no. 14 – Henri Laurens, Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Druckgrafik, Buchillustra- tionen, 1905-1954, exhib. cat., Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (Kunstverein Berlin), Berlin 1967, no. 126, (repr. of another cast) – Laurens cubista, exhib. cat., Galleria Pieter Coray, Milan 1986, p. 72 f., no. 23 (repr. of another cast) – Henri Laurens 1885-1954, exhib. cat., Kunstmuseum Bern and Museum Villa Stuck Munich, Bern 1985; on a separate sheet: Henri Laurens 1885-1954, Villa Stuck Munich, no. 007 (repr. of another cast) - Henri Laurens (1885-1954), 60 Terres Cuites, exhib. cat., Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris 1998, no. 23, repr.

Henri Laurens started his training as an ornamental sculptor but his early encounter with the Cubism of Braque and Picasso changed the direction of his artistic career.1 A lifelong friendship with Georges Braque dates from 1911. This friendship was of seminal importance to his work. His sculptures from explore the revolutionary principles of Analytical Cubism, with figures constructed of spheres, cones and cylinders.

When the noted international art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler returned to Paris from Bern in 1920 he lost no time in making contact with Laurens and quickly placed him under contract. He had almost certainly heard of his sculptural work while in exile in Switzerland. Braque was quick to recognize his artistic potential. In a letter to Kahnweiler, he notes: […] He is a sculptor who addresses his work with great enthusiasm and sensitivity. […] I believe that his art will go far.2 Laurens’s sculpture of the period achieves volume and perspectival depth through a melding of convex and concave surfaces even though his volumes are in fact empty spaces. Laurens writes: It is essential that the ‘empty’ spaces in a sculpture

1 Laurens came into contact with Picasso in 1915. Three important catalogues have been published on Laurens in conjunction with exhibitions celebrating the centennial of his birth. They are: Sandor Kuthy et al., Henri Laurens 1885-1954, exhib. cat., Kunstmuseum Bern 1985 – Henri Laurens: Skulpturen, Collagen,Zeichnungen, Aquarelle, Druckgraphik, exhib. cat., Sprengel Museum, Hanover 1985 – Henri Laurens: Le cubisme, constructions et papiers collés, 1915-1919, exhib. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1985. 2 Cited after Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, Le cubisme de Laurens, in exhib. cat., Bern and Munich, 1985, p. 52.

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are given as much importance as the ‘full’ spaces. Sculpture is above all an appropriation of space, of space that is limited by forms. First formulated by Picasso, the theory places greater emphasis on the so-called ‘internal volumes’ of a sculpture over their contours or the external forms that define them. Areas of shadow, like the polychromy, are also important. The polychromy is clearly not intended to be descriptive or decorative, nor a means of depicting texture or substantiality. It has a purely three-dimensional function – its specific role consists in the distribution of light and shadow.3

Before he began work on this version of Femme à l’oiseau Laurens had already worked in the medium of terracotta. In 1921 he executed a large version of the subject in stone [Fig. 1]. In the choice of medium for the smaller-format sculpture he was very probably guided by contemporary collecting taste. His sculptural output in the medium of terracotta was prolific. It testifies to the extent to which he succeeded in meeting the expectations of a certain type of clientele without at the same time sacrificing artistic integrity and the high quality of his craftsmanship.4

The sculpture is accompanied by a certificate from Galerie Louise Leiris (Quentin Laurens) in Paris. It is dated 14 September 1999.

Fig. 1: Femme à l’oiseau, stone, height: c.60 cm

3 Ead., Le cubisme de Laurens, in exhib. cat., 1985, p. 48. 4 Werner Hofmann, Henri Laurens – Das plastische Werk, Stuttgart 1970, p. 40.