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statue of a man holding a baby in his arms on a white backgrounda black sculpture of a man on a white backgroundsculpture of a black abstract sculpture on a white backgroundstatue of a woman sitting on a chair on a white backgrounda black sculpture of a woman sitting on a stoola black sculpture of a woman sitting on a white surfacea black sculpture of a woman sitting on a chaira close up of a black sculpture on a white surfacea close up of a black purse on a white surfacea sculpture of a bird that is sitting on top of a piece of wood
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247 - SCULPTURE “STANDING NUDE” by Katarzyna KOBRO (1898–1951)
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Estimate €10,000 - €15,000
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Description
SCULPTURE “STANDING NUDE” by Katarzyna KOBRO (1898–1951) Bronze with a 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 (26 January 1898 – 21 February 1951) was a Polish Constructivist artist. She is known for her sculptures composed of flat, sometimes curved, geometric and colourful surfaces. Her body of work is, however, far more diverse. She was one of the few female sculptors of the interwar period and one of the most significant. The majority of her works are held at the Sztuki Museum in Łódź. Her work is considered to belong to the Constructivist movement, 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 did indeed revolutionise the conception of sculpture. She moved away from the perception of sculpture as a block, which is the basis of 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 form. Her aim 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 possesses no specific location, no point of reference (such as, for example, the centre in a coordinate system). Building on this, Kobro seeks, through her works, to construct precisely this organisation of space, so that there is no rupture in its spatial distribution between the sculpted block and its surroundings, but rather that the work, coexisting with the space (or integrated, if you prefer), becomes easier to grasp. From this conception of spatial homogeneity follows, of course, the elimination of the notion of a ‘centre’ 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 forming an integral part of infinite space by opening itself up to it, thereby following the guiding principles of Unism. When 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, either suspended or resting on their plinths, made of glass, wood and painted metal. She also produced, right up 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’ Room). In 1985, the Centre Pompidou in Paris acquired one of her 1928 ‘Spatial Compositions’, a work titled ‘Sculpture d’espace’.
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About the sale Luxury, Art & Curiosities
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Auction time 10/25/2026 at 2:00 PM
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