Papier-mâché
8 September 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
28 June - 8 September 2018
Thirty years into his career as a sculptor, Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) began working with papier-mâché in the late 1920s. Following the stock market crash of 1929, Nadelman reduced his personal real estate holdings in Manhattan and Riverdale, and eventually had to dismantle his groundbreaking folk art collection which he had displayed as a private museum. Around the same time he started to experiment with the idea of serially produced sculptures, and to work with inexpensive materials. Prior to papier-mâché, Nadelman had developed various techniques using materials such as plaster casting, terra-cotta, ceramics, and “galvano-plastique” (electroplated plaster, a cost-effective substitute for bronze). His earliest papier-mâché works were two large-scale pairs of women, including “Two Circus Women” (c. 1928-29), which were later used as maquettes for the permanent installation of two marble statues in Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater, posthumously commissioned by Philip Johnson and revealed in 1962. In 1930 he turned to a smaller scale, and devoted the first half of the decade to developing a vocabulary for figurines with smooth, rounded contours and experimented with composite casting to yield slight variations on poses, often incorporating motifs of dancers, circus performers, ribbon bows, and dogs. In some cases, Nadelman painted his papier-mâchés, giving individuating color schemes to serially cast works, in the spirit of Pennsylvania Dutch pottery. This is the first exhibition dedicated specifically to Elie Nadelman’s papier-mâché works, and the third exhibition of the artist’s late work at Galerie Buchholz.
Recently, works by Elie Nadelman have been included in “Outliers and American Vanguard Art”, curated by Lynne Cooke, previously on view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., currently at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and traveling to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in November 2018. “Making it Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman” opened at the Albequerque Museum of Art and History, New Mexico (2015), and traveled to the New-York Historical Society (2016) and the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover (2016). The exhibition “A New American Sculpture, 1914-1945: Lachaise, Laurent, Nadelman, and Zorach”, opened at Portland Museum of Art, Maine (2017), and traveled to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis (2017-2018) and Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas (2018); it included “Two Circus Women”, on view here at Galerie Buchholz.
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two women)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
“Two Circus Women”, ca. 1928-1929 papier-mâché over plaster
132.7 x 96.5 x 53.3 cm
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
“Two Circus Women”, ca. 1928-1929 papier-mâché over plaster
132.7 x 96.5 x 53.3 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Two Circus Women”, ca. 1928-1929 papier-mâché over plaster
132.7 x 96.5 x 53.3 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Two Circus Women”, ca. 1928-1929 papier-mâché over plaster
132.7 x 96.5 x 53.3 cm
&
“Untitled (standing woman, Seaside Inn)”, 1941
graphite on paper (Seaside Inn, Daytona Beach, stationery)
24.1 x 15.2 cm
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (standing woman, Seaside Inn)”, 1941
graphite on paper (Seaside Inn, Daytona Beach, stationery)
24.1 x 15.2 cm
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
“Two Circus Women” in Nadelman home, ca. 1948
silver gelatin print mounted on board
24.8 x 18.4 cm
photograph by Konrad Cramer
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
13.97 x 16.51 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman in profile)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman in profile)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
Papier-mâché
installation view Galerie Buchholz, New York 2018
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle on lap)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
11.4 x 12.7 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled”, n.d.
ink on paper (Savoy Hotel, NY stationery)
20 x 24.8 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Standing Woman”, ca. 1935-40
pencil on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman seated, in profile)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman seated, in profile)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman seated)”, n.d.
graphite on paper
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Standing Girl, Seaside Inn”, ca. 1941
ink on paper (Seaside Inn, Daytona Beach, stationery)
24.1 x 15.2 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (‘Spinario’ - seated woman)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
17.8 x 13.3 x 14.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (‘Spinario’ - seated woman)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
17.8 x 13.3 x 14.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman seated on plinth)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
overall: 27.9 x 14 x 17.8 cm
base: 8.3 x 14 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (woman seated on plinth)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
overall: 27.9 x 14 x 17.8 cm
base: 8.3 x 14 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (small seated woman with leg up, painted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché with glaze and paint
12.1 x 8.9 x 5.1 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (small seated woman with leg up, unpainted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
12.1 x 8.9 x 5.1 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (small seated woman with leg up, painted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché with glaze and paint
12.1 x 8.9 x 5.1 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle on lap)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
19.7 x 15.2 x 11.4 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle on lap)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
19.7 x 15.2 x 11.4 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle on lap)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
19.7 x 15.2 x 11.4 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle at side)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché, paint
17.1 x 12.7 x 7.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman with poodle at side)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
17.1 x 12.7 x 7.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman, poodle behind)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
31.1 x 21.6 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (seated woman, poodle behind)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
31.1 x 21.6 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (walking figure)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
26.7 x 11.4 x 6.4 cm
plinth: 5.1 x 8.9 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (walking figure)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
26.7 x 11.4 x 6.4 cm
plinth: 5.1 x 8.9 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (standing figure with hat and bow)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
35.6 x 11.4 x 8.9 cm
plinth: 7 x 11.4 x 11.4 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (standing figure with hat and bow)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
35.6 x 11.4 x 8.9 cm
plinth: 4.5 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (walking figure)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
26.7 x 11.4 x 6.4 cm
hooks: 5.1 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (standing figure with hat and bow)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
35.6 x 11.4 x 8.9 cm
hooks: 7.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two women, one fixing another’s hair)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
36.8 x 25.4 x 15.2 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (small standing woman on rounded base)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché, paint
20.3 x 8.9 x 5.1 cm
base: 5.1 x 7.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Standing Figure on a Rounded Base”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-maché
31.8 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm
10.2 x 7.6 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (tall standing woman on rounded base)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
50.8 x 21.6 x 14 cm
base: 12.7 x 8.9 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (silver standing woman on rounded base)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché, paint
35.6 x 11.4 x 8.9 cm
base: 7 x 11.4 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two seated women)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
29.2 x 24.1 x 15.2 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two standing women, unpainted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché
43.2 x 22.9 x 12.7 cm
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two standing women, painted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché, paint
43.2 x 22.9 x 12.7 cm
front
Elie Nadelman
“Untitled (two standing women, painted)”, n.d. (1930-1935)
papier-mâché, paint
43.2 x 22.9 x 12.7 cm
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