The Arts - Modernism's Gertrude Stein

The Arts of She is in Balance focuses this week is on American expatriate writer Gertrude Stein was a central figure in early twentieth-century

modernism, serving as a muse and patron to many who visited her legendary Paris apartment.

    She championed avant-garde art, including the works of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and her own distinctive, repetitive prose influenced playwrights, composers, poets, and visual artists. 

   
   Among the many creatives Stein and her brother Leo befriended was sculptor Jo Davidson, who first met them during his trip to France around 1907. However, it wasn’t until 1922, when their friendship had already deepened, that Davidson sculpted a likeness of Gertrude.

Davidson, known for his busts, felt that a simple portrait of Gertrude would not do justice to her presence. “To do a head of Gertrude was not enough—there was so much more to her than that,” he remarked. Instead, he created a seated figure—a modern rendition of the Buddha. The comparison to Buddha was fitting, both in terms of Stein’s physical stature and her commanding personality. 

   Throughout Davidson’s lifetime, several bronze casts of the sculpture were made; however, this terra-cotta version is amazing. It is the only known life-size model, remains unique. A later bronze cast was installed in Bryant Park in New York City in 1993, marking it as the only statue of a woman—aside from the sculpture of Joan of Arc—in a New York City park.

Absolutely beautiful,

Renay

xo