11.8.10

BRUCE MUSEUM ACQUIRES GASTON LACHAISE SCULPTURE


THE BRUCE MUSEUM, GREENWICH, CT, RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAS ACQUIRED A MAJOR SCULPTURE BY THE FRENCH/AMERICAN ARTIST GASTON LACHAISE (1882-1935), OE OF THE PIONEERS OF MODERN ART IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE LAST CENTURY. THE WORK DEPICTS LINCOLN KIRSTEIN, ONE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC AND INFLUENTIAL CULTURAL FIGURES OF HIS DAY, AN IMPRESARIO AND AUTHOR, AS WELL AS A GREAT PATRON OF THE ARTS. THE SCULPTURE, TITLED MAN WALKING (PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN KIRSTEIN), IS ONE OF ONLY TWO CASTS IN EXISTENCE (THE OTHER WAS ACQUIRED BY THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF ART DIRECTLY FROM A SHOW HELD THERE IN 1933-34) AND WAS DELIVERED TO KIRSTEIN IN JULY 1934. LACHAISE EARLIER HAD EXECUTED A BUST-LENGTH PORTRAIT OF HIS FRIEND AND PATRON KIRSTEIN, WHO IS CREDITED WITH HAVING HELPED INSPIRE THE FOUNDATION OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART AND PERSONALLY ORGANIZED THE RETROSPECTIVE THERE OF LACHAISE'S WORKS THAT APPEARED IN 1935, THE FIRST MONOGRAPHIC SHOW OF ANY AMERICAN ARTIST AT THE INSTITUTION. THE SUBJECT OF THE SCULPTURE, KIRSTEIN, WAS HEIR OF THE FILENE'S DEPARTMENT STORE FORTUNE AND HAD BEGUN PROMOTING ART EVEN AS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT HARVERD. HE WAS AN EARLY COMPANION NOT ONLY OF LACHAISE AND HIS FRIENDS, BUT ALSO OF ISAMU NOGUCHI, ALEXANDER CALDER AND BUCKMINSTER FULLER, AND ORGANIZED THE FIRST BAUHAUS SHOW IN AMERICA. HIS CLASSMATE JOHN WALKER, LATER FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY IN WASHINGTON, LIKENED KIRSTEIN'S UNCANNY ABILITY TO SPOT TALENT TO A 'SETTER POINTING OUT COVEYS OF GENIUS'. ONE OF HIS GREATEST DISCOVERIES OCCURRED IN EUROPE WHERE HE MET THE RUSSIAN DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPHER GEORGE BALANCHINE. TOGETHER THEY ESTABLISHED THE SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET, WHICH BECAME THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET. DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, KIRSTEIN SERVED AS ONE OF THE 'MONUMENT MEN', WHO HELPED RECOVER AND RESTITUTE ART WORKS LOOTED BY THE NAZIS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT brucemuseum.org

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