Henri Laurens

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Henri Laurens (left) and Jean Vincent de Crozals , around 1950

Henri Laurens (born February 18, 1885 in Paris , † May 5, 1954 ibid) was a French sculptor and draftsman of Cubism .

life and work

L'Amphion (1937/1952) in front of the Central University of Venezuela, Caracas

Laurens initially completed an apprenticeship as a stonemason from 1899 to 1905 and devoted himself to ornamental sculpting in buildings. In his free time he made sculptures in the style of Auguste Rodin . In 1911 he joined the group of artists from Montparnasse and was introduced to synthetic cubism by Georges Braque , with whom he was a lifelong friend, by 1912 . In 1913 he participated for the first time at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris and three years later met Juan Gris , Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso , whereupon until 1919 " still lifes and heads made of cut-out, obliquely joined, painted planes of wood and metal", in part in the style of African tribal masks.

Between 1920 and 1930 Laurens created post-cubist works based on Picasso's cubist paintings, which are no longer constructed but modeled. From 1930 the figures lost their cubist structure and, under the influence of surrealism , gained "a rounded, voluminous physicality." After a stay at the sea in 1934, his subject changed to " amphibious sirens and other sensual mermaids or muses ." A major work The L'Amphion in front of the University of Caracas in Venezuela , completed in 1952 , is a version of the L'Amphion from 1937 enlarged to (including the base) 4.40 meters high. According to the Greek legend, the wall at Thebes was built the stones together by the sound of Amphion's lyre alone . According to Laurens' own words, this work is an attempt at a “synthesis of music and architecture”. In the bronze Le matin (The Morning) from 1944 Laurens dealt with the overwhelming suffering associated with the occupation by the Germans. Many of his friends had to leave Paris and some of them never returned.

Henri Laurens died in his hometown in 1954 at the age of 69. He rests there in the Montparnasse cemetery . The tomb is decorated with one of his works of art, the sculpture La Douleur .

Awards

Exhibitions

The exhibitions marked with an "E" are solo exhibitions; a catalog was published for the exhibitions marked with a "K".

posthumously:

  • 1955: documenta 1 , Kassel ; Cologne / Krefeld / Hamburg / Basel / Berlin (West) E.
  • 1959: documenta II , Kassel
  • 1962: Stedelijk Museum , Amsterdam / Museum Folkwang, Essen / Kunsthalle Bremen (retrospective) E, K
  • 1964: documenta III , Kassel
  • 1965: Ernst Barlach House, Hamburg E
  • 1967: Grand Palais, Paris E
  • 1969: Nouveau Musée, Le Havre E
  • 1971: Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Metz E ; The Ulster Museum, Belfast E.
  • 1972: Kunsthalle Bielefeld E
  • 1975: Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern E ; Municipal Museum, Trier E
  • 1980: Academia di Francia a Roma, Rome E
  • 1985: Sprengel Museum, Hannover E, K ; Von-der-Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal E ; Center Georges Pompidou, Paris E ; Kunstmuseum Bern , Bern / Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (retrospective) E, K ;
  • 1987: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy E
  • 1989: Museu Picasso de Barcelona E
  • 1991: Henri Laurens 1885-1954. Bronzes, stones and works on paper . Altes Museum Berlin, April 10 to June 2, 1991 E, K
  • 2001: Henri Laurens - pictures of women, woman's bodies . Kunsthalle Bielefeld , March 4 to May 27, 2001 E, K
  • 2012: Léger - Laurens. Tete-a-tete. Museum Frieder Burda , Baden-Baden, 23 June to 4 November 2012
  • 2019 Henri Laurens - Wellentöchter , Kunsthalle Mannheim (in cooperation with the Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen), March 1 to June 16, 2019 E, K

Collections

literature

  • Reinhold Hohl : Sculpture in the 20th Century. Exhibition in Wenkenpark , Riehen / Basel. May 10 to September 14, 1980. Werner Druck, Basel 1980, ISBN 3-85979-011-4
  • Thomas Krens (preface): Rendezvous. Masterpieces from the Center Georges Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museums. Guggenheim Museum Publications, New York 1998, ISBN 0-89207-213-X .
  • Michael Semff, Andreas Strobl (ed.): The presence of the line. A selection of recent acquisitions from the 20th and 21st centuries from the State Graphic Collection in Munich. Pinakothek der Moderne March 19 to June 21, 2009. Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-927803-46-6 .

Web links

Commons : Henri Laurens  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Reinhold Hohl : Sculpture in the 20th century. Exhibition at Wenkenhof | Wenkenpark, Riehen / Basel. May 10 to September 14, 1980. Werner Druck AG, Basel 1980, p. 66
  2. ^ Henri Laurens 1885-1954. Bronzes, stones and works on paper. Catalog for the exhibition in the Altes Museum Berlin from April 10 to June 2, 1991, published by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, exhibition and catalog: Anita Beloubek-Hammer, p. 83
  3. ↑ Léger - Laurens. Tête-à-tête , Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
personal data
SURNAME Laurens, Henri
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French sculptor and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH May 5th 1954
Place of death Paris