Bronze with black patina. Cast at Fonderie Thinot, Paris in an edition of 8.
18 x 5 1/2 x 5 3/8 in, 45.7 x 14 x 13.6 cm
Signed and numbered 'Lobo 4/8'; stamped with foundry mark 'L. Thinot, Fondeur Paris'
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Baltasar Lobo’s sculpture ‘Danseuse, sur socle’ captures a moment of elegant dynamism as a dancer lifts her body off the ground and into a pirouette. Lobo often returned to the...
Baltasar Lobo’s sculpture ‘Danseuse, sur socle’ captures a moment of elegant dynamism as a dancer lifts her body off the ground and into a pirouette. Lobo often returned to the subject of the female body as a means of exploring the sensuality of the human figure as well as the teetering divide between abstraction and figuration. In this particular work, Lobo creates a sense of vibrant energy as the figure raises her arms into a controlled and harmonious position that could be broken at any moment.
Having escaped Franco’s Fascist regime for Paris in 1939, Lobo quickly found himself immersed in the vibrant avant-garde community of Montparnasse, where he forged close friendships with Picasso, Lipchitz and Henri Laurens. Lobo created a particularly strong connection to Laurens, for whom he worked as an assistant. During the later period of his career, Lobo’s female sculptures began to embody an increasingly abstract language of organic forms and movement, inspired by pivotal Modernist sculptors such as Jean Arp, Constant Brancusi and Joan Miró. In the present sculpture, Lobo transforms the female form into a series of sensuous undulations that capture the essential human form while expressing the beauty and movement of dance.
‘Danseuse, sur socle’ was originally acquired by Fina Gomez, a close friend of the sculptor who is even suggested to have been his lover due to the numerous dedications to Fina on various other Lobo drawings and sculptures. The work was then inherited by Fina Gomez’s grandson before it passed through two private collections in Europe.
Despite the political turmoil which defined his early career, Lobo’s deeply poetic sculptures earned him international recognition and critical acclaim. During this late period Lobo’s work was finally exhibited in his home town in Zamora before a permanent museum was also established. In 1984 he was awarded the Spanish National Prize for Sculpture. Lobo’s sculptures can now be found in major international collections including the Centro d'Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Tokyo National Museum; Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg; National Gallery, Prague; State Gallery, Stuttgart and Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao.
Fina Gomez, Paris (acquired directly from the artist and thence by descent) Private Collection, Australia (purchased from the grandson of the above in 2001) Private Collection, Switzerland
Literature
This work is recorded in the Baltasar Lobo archives of Galerie Daniel Malingue under no.7026