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The Wrestlers
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (French (active in Britain), 1891–1915)
1914
Object Place: Europe, France
Medium/Technique
Plaster
Dimensions
71.76 x 92.08 cm (28 1/4 x 36 1/4 x 2 in.) Approximately 70 LBS
Credit Line
Otis Norcross Fund
Accession Number65.1683.1
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSculpture
Despite early and intense admiration for Rodin, after moving to London Gaudier-Brzeska developed an equally wild enthusiasm for the "primitive." A friend commented that he "was always talking 'savage' and 'barbaric' and gloated over the free and exotic life of the south seas." These sinuous, seemingly weightless wrestlers combine Gaudier's enthusiasm for non-Western art with the excitement he felt at wrestling matches: "I went to see the wrestlers. -God! I have seldom seen anything so lovely. … They fought with amazing vivacity and spirit, turning in the air, falling back on their heads, and in a flash were up again on the other side, utterly incomprehensible."
Provenance1915, by inheritance at the artist's death to his companion, Sophie Brzeska (d. 1925), Gloucestershire, England [see note 1]; 1927, sold from the estate of Sophie Brzeska to Harold Stanley (Jim) Ede (b. 1895 - d. 1990), Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, England; 1965, sold by Ede to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 8, 1965)
NOTES:
[1] Gaudier-Brzeska used his oil painting Portrait of a Whitechapel Jew (MFA accession no. 65.1683.2) as the support for his plaster relief The Wrestlers (MFA accession no. 65.1683.1). The painting and relief were separated by the MFA shortly after the object was acquired.
NOTES:
[1] Gaudier-Brzeska used his oil painting Portrait of a Whitechapel Jew (MFA accession no. 65.1683.2) as the support for his plaster relief The Wrestlers (MFA accession no. 65.1683.1). The painting and relief were separated by the MFA shortly after the object was acquired.