Male Nude , c. 1932 | Freeman's

Male Nude , c. 1932 | Freeman's

Gaston Lachaise

(American/French, 1882–1935)

Male Nude, c. 1932

Pencil on paper

Signed 'G Lachaise' (lower right)

Sheet size: 24 1/8 × 19 in. (61.3 x 48.3cm)

We wish to thank Virginia Budny, author of the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of Lachaise’s work (sponsored by the Lachaise Foundation), for her assistance in preparing the catalogue entry for the present work.

Provenance:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, New York.

Acquired directly from the above.

Private Collection, New York.

Thence by descent in the family to the present owner.

Lot Essay:

This drawing of a handsome male nude compares to many drawings of men that Lachaise produced in the early 1930s. They were intended to represent a suitable counterpart to his ideal Woman that he first presented in his 8-1/2 feet high Man [LF 85] (first version, 1928-30; see V. Budny, “Provocative Extremes: Gaston Lachaise’s Women,” Sculpture Review, Vol. 63, no. 2 (n.s. 14, no. 2), Summer 2014, pp. 12, 14, 15). The present drawing is similar to a somewhat more robust, yet similarly schematized, male nude that had been selected on March 15, 1932, for publication in The Hound & Horn: A Harvard Miscellaney, Vol. 5, no. 4, 1932 (following p. 564), and it probably dates from about the same time. Yet another example, which more closely compares to the composition in the present drawing, is the posthumously (and fancifully) named Standing Adrogynous Figure, Princeton University Art Museum, object no. X1966-59, recto and verso).

In overall good condition. The sheet is affixed to the verso of the mat via three small pieces of white linen tape at upper left, upper center and upper right. With old paper tape in each upper corner. The sheet is lightly toned with slight mat staining around the extreme edges of the sheet (with accompanying discoloration). With minor creases throughout (due to the medium). With medium staining at upper center (on the chest) and on the raised left arm. Slight fold in the upper right corner (covered by the mat). Old diagonal folds at upper left and upper right (also covered by the mat). Small vertical paper tear at upper center, 0 1/2 in.), which does not extend passed the mat.
Frame: 31 1/4 x 26 1/4 x 1 3/4 in.

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