GASTON LACHAISE

Fountain Figure

GASTON LACHAISE

by Joan K. Yanni

The acquisition of Gaston Lachaise's statuette of  Mrs.James Sibley Watson, Jr. marks a valuable addition to MAG's collection of works by Lachaise and focuses on the Rochester connection of the artist. 

Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935) was born in Paris, the son of a woodworker/cabinet maker.  A classically educated artist, he attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts, worked with Rene Lalique, and exhibited regularly at the Salon.  A meeting with American Isabel Nagle changed the direction—or at least the location—of is life. He fell in love with her and, though she was married, he followed her to Boston in 1906.  She did not become his wife until 1917, but she was forever his muse and often the model for his flamboyant female figures.

In the United States, Lachaise worked first with Henry Hudson Kitson on Civil War monuments, then moved to New York to collaborate with Paul Manship.  Though he worked as a traditional apprentice for many years, the works which Lachaise produced in his free time were unorthodox.  Except for his decorative animal figures, his art never caught the public's eye.  He was acclaimed by critics, however.  The Dial, a literary magazine which published the works of contemporary writers and artists, praised his work, and many Dial writers gave him commissions.  Among his portraits, in addition to our bust of Sibley Watson, are heads of O'Keefe, Steiglitz, John Marin, e.e. cummings (now in the Fogg Art Museum), and Marianne Moore (now in the Metropolitan Museum).

The standing woman theme was Lachaise's particular contribution to his art.  The sculptures of his wife—large, voluptuous, easily identifiable figures with a curiously light, tranquil step—serve as examples of his ideal woman.

In 1935, eight months before his death, he had the honor to become the second living American to have a retrospective at MOMA.  He died of leukemia in 1935.

James Sibley Watson, Jr. was the son of James and Emily Sibley Watson, founder of the Memorial Art Gallery.  Though Sibley Watson held a medical degree from New York University, he was always interested in the arts—sponsoring artists, making innovative films, and co-editing The Dial.  His marriage to Hildegarde Lasell of Boston deepened his interest in the artistic, for she sang, acted in his films, wrote, and painted.

Portraid Statuette of Mrs. J Sibley Watson Jr.

Sibley Watson and Lachaise probably met through The Dial.  The bronze head of Sibley Watson, which captures his quality of silent perception, was depicted in the magazine in 1927.  Through the relationship, Lachaise met other members of the family and crafted the painted alabaster head of Urling Sibley Iselin (1927), granddaughter of Hiram Sibley and niece of Emily Sibley Watson, and the bronze head of Samuel A. Torrens (1924), Hildegarde's music teacher.

Lachaise also executed MAG's remarkable, full-length portrait of Hildegarde, Portrait Statuette of Mrs. J. Sibley Watson Jr. (68.11).  A small sculpture (15 1/2 inches tall), its right leg steps forward confidently, its left is hidden in a billowing skirt.  Awareness, refinement and intelligence are depicted in the figure, cast in bronze with the bodice and skirt nickel-plated.  Rochester again figured in Lachaise's work when landscape architect Fletcher Steele asked him to do a sculpture for the garden of Charlotte Whitney Allen.  Our limestone Fountain Figure (1927) now in the Gallery Cafe, was the result.  Other lachaise sculptures owned by the Gallery include the bronze Standing Woman (1928) which overlooks the Sculpture Pavilion from her niche against the back wall (She was a gift of Peter Islen and his sister Emilie Wiggin); the small Standing Woman (1919) gift of Charlotte Whitney Allen; Standing Nude (1927); and Ogunquit Torso (1925)—one of his first fragment sculptures, a powerful piece that was formed in bronze and plated in nickel.  The Gallery is fortunate to have such a variety of first-rate works by the artist.

Source: Curatorial files