“The Figure” by Jacques Lipchitz

“The Figure” by Jacques Lipchitz was inspired by the principles of Cubism. It was modeled between 1926-1930 and cast in bronze in 1958-1961. Lipchitz’s style incorporated biomorphic shapes that model artistic design elements of life. Biomorphic comes from combining the Greek words ‘bios’, meaning life, and ‘morphe,’ meaning form, and was introduced in the 1930s to describe the imagery in the abstract types of surrealist art.

Jacques Lipchitz was a Lithuanian Jewish sculptor, whose work was influenced by cubism. He lived and worked in France, the USA, Israel, and Italy. Lipchitz was absorbed by themes of love, motherhood, homeland, humanity and goodness and evil as depicted in the images of the Old Testament of Greek and Roman mythology.

Biomorphism

Biomorphism models artistic design on shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Biomorphic art focuses on the power of nature and uses organic forms. Contemporary architects have also explored biomorphism, such as the Sagrada Família church by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona has many features inspired by nature, such as the internal columns shaped to reflect trees.

Reflections

• Do we need more Biomorphism or nature-inspired design elements in our modern architecture and industrial design?

The Figure

• Title:          The Figure
• Artist:        Jacques Lipchitz
• Year:          Modelled 1926-1930; Cast 1958-1961
• Material:    Bronze Casting
• Museum:   Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Jacques Lipchitz

• Name:        Jacques Lipchitz
• Born:          Chaim Jacob Lipchitz
• Lithuanian: Jacques Lipshits
• Born:          1891 – Druskininkai,  Lithuania
• Died:          1973 (81 years old) – Capri, Italy
• Notable work
  • The Figure

A Tour of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

• “The Burghers of Calais” by Auguste Rodin
• “Kiepenkerl” by Jeff Koons
• “The Figure” by Jacques Lipchitz
• “The Great Warrior of Montauban” by Antoine Bourdelle

Explore American Museums

• New York Museums

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art or MET
  • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
  • Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum
  • Neue Galerie New York
  • The Cloisters
  • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  • American Museum of Natural History
  • Museum of the City of New York
  • New-York Historical Society
  • Frick Collection
  • Met Breuer

• Washington, D.C. Museums

  • National Gallery of Art
  • National Museum of American History
  • National Air and Space Museum
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • National Museum of Natural History
  • National Portrait Gallery
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • The Phillips Collection
  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
  • International Spy Museum

• Boston Museums

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
  • Harvard Art Museums

• Los Angeles Museums

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
  • Getty Museum

• San Francisco Museums

  • De Young Museum
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
  • Legion of Honor Museum

• Chicago Museums

  • Art Institute of Chicago
  • Chicago History Museum
  • Field Museum of Natural History

• Cleveland Museums

  • Cleveland Museum of Art
  • USS COD
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  • Great Lakes Science Center

• Philadelphia Museums

  • The Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Penn Museum
  • The Barnes Foundation
  • Museum of the American Revolution
  • Rodin Museum

• Wilmington Museums

  • Delaware Art Museum

• Houston Museums

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

• Honolulu Museums

  • Honolulu Museum of Art

• Columbus Museums

  • Columbus Museum of Art

• New Haven Museums

  • Yale University Art Gallery

• Baltimore Museums

  • Walters Art Museum

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“I invent nothing, I rediscover.”
– Auguste Rodin

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Photo Credit: By Cliff (Flickr: Figure) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons