
Seated Figure
<p>Beginning in 1900, young painters and sculptors of all nationalities migrated to the Paris neighborhood of Montparnasse, the city’s hub of avant-garde activity. Despite their different approaches and interests, the artists of the so-called School of Paris fostered an inspiring climate of imaginative cross-fertilization that helped to sustain the idea of Paris as the center of artistic activity until the beginning of World War II. Jacques Lipchitz moved to Paris in 1909, and through his friendships with <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36397">Diego Rivera</a>, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36198">Pablo Picasso</a>, and others, he participated in the Cubist movement. His bas-reliefs and sculptures in the round communicate the geometric and fractured forms and the favored subject matter (musicians and seated bathers, for example) of contemporary Cubist paintings.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1917
- Medium
- Limestone
- Dimensions
- 87 × 35.3 × 29.2 cm (34 1/4 × 13 7/8 × 11 1/2 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Jacques Lipchitz
Artist

Sculpture
One of the most important abstract sculptors of the 20th century, Jacques Lipchitz is best known for his Cubist figures, portraits and still lifes. Favoring bronze and stone, Lipchitz explored mythological, Biblical and universal human themes with a fervent emotional intensity. As a Jewish-born Lithuanian forced to flee Paris at the outset of the Second World War, Lipchitz’s experiences of persecution and displacement had a profound impact on his artistic evolution. While works from his Cubist period reveal a sophisticated grasp of line, plane and volume, in the latter part of his career, Lipchitz evolved toward a more figurative, expressive style.
Full artist profile →More
More by Jacques Lipchitz
Untitled from Homage to Picasso (Hommage à Picasso)
1973 · Lithograph from a portfolio of thirty-one lithographs (one with aquatint, one with collotype, one with screenprint), twenty-two screenprints (one with embossing, one with flocking, one with stencil), eleven etchings (five with aquatint, one with aquatint and drypoint, one with aquatint, drypoint, and engraving), three aquatints (one with etching), and two woodcuts
Tree of Life II
1971 · Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Tree of Life III
1971 · Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Tree of Life I
1971 · Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Sketch for ‘Government of the People’
1967 · Plaster
Untitled from Flight
1965 · Lithograph from a portfolio of eleven lithographs and one screenprint
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Jacques Lipchitz
- Year
- 1917
- Medium
- Limestone
- Dimensions
- 87 × 35.3 × 29.2 cm (34 1/4 × 13 7/8 × 11 1/2 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1917-131858
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





