SCULPTURE "STANDING NUDE" by Katarzyna KOBRO (1898–1951) - Lot 247

SCULPTURE "STANDING NUDE" by Katarzyna KOBRO (1898–1951) Bronze with black patina, signed and numbered "5/8" on the back Foundry mark: "Clementi, lost-wax". Posthumous casting Provenance: Private collection Dimensions: approx. 42 x 21 x 18 cm Condition: shows signs of use and wear Bibliography: - Plaster model referenced as No. 4 from 1935 (photo) Katarzyna Kobro (January 26, 1898 – February 21, 1951) was a Polish Constructivist artist. She is known for her sculptures composed of flat, sometimes curved, geometric, and colorful surfaces. Her body of work is far more diverse. She was one of the few female sculptors of the interwar period and one of the most important. The majority of her works are housed at the Sztuki Museum in Łódź. Her work is considered part of Constructivism, having been included in the 1973 exhibition *Constructivism in Poland 1923–1936*, curated by Ryszard Stanisławski, the director of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. She truly revolutionized the concept of sculpture.⁵⁰ She departed from the perception of sculpture as a monolithic block, which is the basis for the novelty of her contribution. Under the influence of Constructivism, it rejects individualism, subjectivism, and Expressionism in art, replacing them with a radical objectivism of forms. Her goal was to create abstract works grounded in universal and objective laws, discovered through experimentation and analysis. At the heart of Katarzyna Kobro’s sculptural conception lies the abstract concept of infinite space. Space conceived in this way is homogeneous and has no specific location, no point of reference (such as, for example, the center in a coordinate system). Building on this, Kobro seeks, through her work, to construct precisely this organization of space, so that there is no rupture in its spatial distribution between the sculpted form and its surroundings, but rather that the work, coexisting with the space (or integrated into it, if you will), becomes easier to grasp. From this conception of spatial homogeneity follows, of course, the elimination of the notion of a “center” in the composition, since every point on the sculpture is of equal importance to the others. In her Nudes, particularly those from 1925–27, which she often exhibited, and according to Zenobia Karnica: the body is seen as an “organic unit” in space, with its own natural boundaries (in contrast to the composition of space (the abstract concept of modern sculpture) which lacks such boundaries) and is capable of becoming an integral part of infinite space by opening itself up to it, thereby following the guiding principles of Unism. Viewed from this perspective, the Nudes reveal an aspect that has not been the subject of any research in the study of Unism theory. Kobro’s best-known works—whether preserved over time or reconstructed—have come down to us as abstract sculptures, suspended or resting on their pedestals, made of glass, wood, and painted metal. She also created, until the end of her life, Nudes in a formal style reminiscent of Cubism. Kobro’s avant-garde sculptures were exhibited at the opening of the Museum Sztuki in Łódź in 1931. They are currently on display in the museum’s Sala Neoplastyczna (Neoplasticists’ Hall). In 1985, the Centre Pompidou in Paris acquired one of her 1928 “Spatial Compositions,” titled “Sculpture d’espace.”

Estimate:£8,472.23

View all items fromParis Oise EnchèresorSculptures