Elie Nadelman

(1882-1946)

Seated Woman with Raised Arm (Circus Woman) 47 in. (119.4 cm.) high, on a 29 1/4 (74.3 cm.) high wooden base

Footnotes

Provenance
Estate of the artist.
Forum Gallery, New York.
Alice M. Kaplan (1903-1995), New York.
By descent within the family of the above.
James Reinish & Associates, New York.
Acquired from the above by the late owner, February 20, 2014.

Literature
L. Kirstein, The Sculpture of Elie Nadelman, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1948, pp. 9, 39, 62, no. 28, galvano-plastique example illustrated (as Circus Woman).
W. Lieberman, Twentieth Century Art from the Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Collection, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1969, pp. 32, 70, 134, another example illustrated (as Circus Woman, II).
L. Kirstein, Elie Nadelman, New York, 1973, p. 299, no. 125, galvano-plastique example listed.
H. Herrera, "Elie Nadelman at Zabriskie," Art in America, vol. 62, May-June 1974, p. 104, another example listed.
J.I.H. Baur, The Sculpture and Drawings of Elie Nadelman, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1975, pp. 10, 82, no. 75, another example illustrated. (as Seated Female Figure)
"Vice-Presidential Mansion," Architectural Digest, vol. 32, March-April 1976, p. 138, another example illustrated.
W. S. Lieberman, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art, New York, 1981, p. 103, another example illustrated (as Circus Woman II).
J. Barnitz, et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Art of the Western Hemisphere, vol. II, New York, 1988, pp. 172-74, no. 86, another example illustrated.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., Elie Nadelman: A Major Exhibition of Sculpture, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1996, no. 11, galvano-plastique example illustrated.
P. Keobandith, Elie Nadelman: Les années parisiennes 1904-1914, exhibition catalogue, Paris, France, 1998, pp. 50-51, another example illustrated.
C. Nadelman, "Plastiques Fantastiques," Elie Nadelman: Galvano Plastiques, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2001, pl. 6, galvano-plastique example illustrated.
B. Haskell, Elie Nadelman: Sculptor of Modern Life, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2003, pp. 2, 164, fig. 186, galvano-plastique example illustrated.
L. Rotmil, Elie Nadelman, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2017, pp. 16-17, fig. 15, galvano-plastique example illustrated.

"I employ no other line than the curve, which possesses freshness and force. I compose these forms so as to bring them into accord or in opposition to one another. In that way, I obtain the life of the form, i.e. harmony." (E. Nadelman, "Photo-Secession Notes," Camera Work: 32, October, 1910, p. 41)

Elie Nadelman arrived in Paris in 1904, at the age of twenty-two. He spent this formative decade immersing himself in the study of Michaelangelo (1475-1564) at the Louvre, as well as the work of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and Georges Seurat (1859-1891) at public exhibitions. During this period, he exhibited in the Salon d'Automne and Salon des Indépendants. He famously received Leo Stein and Pablo Picasso at his studio in the summer of 1908, which Nadelman felt was influential for the development of analytic Cubism, and for which he was never properly credited. (L. Kirstein, Elie Nadelman, New York, 1973, p. 184)

Nadelman's avant-garde practice may not have been recognized within its proper context had it not been for the advocacy of arts critic and impresario Lincoln Kirstein, who would become the executor of Elie Nadelman's estate and the greatest promoter of his work. Kirstein discovered the model for the present work, originally created in galvano-plastique, languishing in Nadelman's attic after his widow's death in 1962. Kirstein sought the patronage of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller to not only preserve these works at risk, but in the case of Seated Woman with Raised Arm (Circus Woman) to commission a more enduring cast. In 1965, Kirstein engaged the Roman Bronze Works foundry to create two lost-wax cast editions after the 'copper clad' plaster—the first was completed for Nelson Rockefeller and the second is the present work. A third authorized bronze cast of the model was produced in the mid-1980s at the Bedi-Makky foundry and was installed in the garden at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in London.

In its highly refined, stylized form, Seated Woman with Raised Arm (Circus Woman) is an astounding early example of American Modernism. By the time Nadelman emigrated to America in 1914, he had already worked extensively in a Cubist manner as well as a 'decorative manner of fluid lines and great elegance.' (J.I.H. Baur, The Sculpture and Drawings of Elie Nadelman, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1975, p. 8) By the early 1920s, his signature 'Art Deco' style coalesced, incorporating the simplified forms of Greek Classicism and American Folk Art. Nadelman 'aimed at a High Style of bravura elegance and technical virtuosity based on historical absolutes.' (Kirstein, p. 21) In the present work, the angular planes in the woman's face yield to the overwhelmingly curvilinear forms of her hair, bust and torso, with each volume balanced gracefully upon one another. The result is what John Baur observed as 'more a celebration of style than a use of style as a means to an end'—an expression of style for style's sake.' (Ibid)

The present work is among Nadelman's largest sculptures, depicting a nearly life-sized figure from the theatrical world. Nadelman 'did not interest himself in the classic ballet nor in ethnic or exotic forms. He preferred the cruder smell of three-ring circus...Burlesque or concert-halls. What delighted him in the performing arts was professionalism, technical proficiency in traditional presentation of each polished routine, focusing single artists by distilled experience in what best built their act...Audiences were controlled by the flick of a wrist, stretch of a toe, sliced-off grin, throaty quaver.' (Ibid, p. 223) This posthumous cast of Seated Woman with Raised Arm (Circus Woman) is a fabulous example from Nadelman's most illustrious period before his tragic financial and physical decline, with a figure that represents a lively pastime of the 1920s.