Gaston Lachaise

French, 1882-1935

Standing Woman, 1912-1918 (cast executed 1927)

bronze

Edition: 1/12

base: 2 1/2 x 27 5/8 x 17 7/8 inches (6.35 x 70.17 x 45.4 cm); overall (without base): 70 x 29 x 11 inches (177.8 x 73.66 x 27.94 cm); overall (including base): 72 1/2 x 29 x 17 7/8 inches (184.15 x 73.66 x 45.4 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

James G. Forsyth Fund, 1938

1938:6

More Details

Inscriptions

Provenance

from the artist to John A. Dunbar, New York;
consigned from John A. Dunbar to Joseph Brummer Gallery, New York, 1936;
purchased by Joseph Brummer Gallery, New York, between 1936 and 1938;
sold to the Albright Art Gallery, May 23, 1938

Class

Sculpture

Work Type

Cast (sculpture)

Information may change due to ongoing research.Glossary of Terms

Gaston Lachaise considered Standing Woman to be his best work, referring to it as “the nucleus and spring of my entire development.” While his wife initially served as the model, over time Lachaise morphed and amplified her shape. Like many of his contemporaries, Lachaise sought to depart from classical representations of the female form. While the figure’s poise and calm demeanor are reminiscent of classicism, her curves, mass, and height express what the artist described as “the glorification of the human being, of the human body, of the human spirit . . . of magnificence, of significance.” Lachaise’s friends claimed that he created and destroyed two earlier versions of the work before its final realization.

Label from Picasso: The Artist and His Models, November 5, 2016–February 19, 2017