Malvina Hoffman, (American, 1885-1966), Paderewski the Statesman, 1923

signed and dated at the back

Height overall 76 inches.

Property of the High Museum of Art sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund Provenance: Estate of the artist Charles Lamson Hoffman Family Gifted by the above to the High Museum of Art in 1986 In 1922 Malvina Hoffman, who had previously observed Ignacy Jan Paderewski at the League of Nations and playing the piano with friends, completed three bronze portrait busts of the pianist, separately titled Paderewski the Man, Paderewski the Artist, and Paderewski the Statesman. The artist and her sitter established a strong bond in the following years. Paderewski lent significant moral support, especially during an extensive commission from The Field Museum of Chicago for the Hall of Man; so much so that Hoffman dedicated her book Heads and Tales of Many Lands (New York, 1937) to Paderewski, writing that "the magical influence of his friendship at these dangerous curves of my existence could never be realized by him ..." All three sculptures were exhibited at Knoedler's Gallery in 1923 where Paderewski attended the opening himself. Paderewski the Man is currently in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (accession no. 1985-73.1), and Paderewski the Artist is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 40.99). Two life-size bronze casts of the Statesman were made. The first cast was exhibited by the Painters' and Sculptors' Gallery Association at Grand Central Art Galleries in New York City, at the City Art Museum in St. Louis, the Fine Arts Academy in Buffalo, the Baltimore Museum of Art and Carnegie Hall. It was eventually purchased by a group of friends and displayed at Steinway Hall in New York City. In 1952 it was moved to the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The present lot was the second cast, created in 1931 by the Alexis Fudier Foundry in Paris. It was exhibited in 1962 at the National Arts Club in New York City.