Joseph Csaky (1888-1971)

"Women seated on her knees" Bronze proof with nuanced brown patina Foundry Delval, foundry stamp Signed, dated 59 and numbered 2/8 Height: 30 cm Bibliography: This bronze is reproduced in the book by Félix Marcilhac, published by l'Amateur, Paris 2007 under n° 1959-FM/d, page 382 Paris-Manaus Gallery Biography: Joseph CSAKY (1888-1971) Born in 1888 in Szeged, Austria-Hungary, Joseph Csaky enrolled at the Royal Hungarian Institute of Arts and Crafts. Disappointed by the traditional content of the courses, he left the establishment after 18 months to pursue an independent career in modeling and stone cutting. He executed several commissions, including a bust of the Count of Karoly, and left for Paris in 1908. He took up a studio at La Ruche, the refuge for artists in Montparnasse, and immediately joined the international community of artists who frequented the district. Vaugirard. He began as an assistant to an art dealer, while making molds for sculptors and posing for artists, before making his debut at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts of 1910-1911. He participated in the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants between 1911 and 1923. Csaky was one of the first sculptors, after Alexander Archipenko, to adapt the rules of cubist composition to the three-dimensional format. He declared that he had created a new reality thanks to which one could observe all the aspects of a sculpture without having to turn around it, ie simply by moving one's gaze in space. Ardent promoter of the movement, Csaky was appointed in 1911 secretary of the modern art review Montjoie. Among his first sculptures we can mention, “Tête d'Adolescent” in plaster and the figure of a standing woman”. These are Cubist creations in their own right: monolithic masses decked out with sharp edges that run from one plane to another. Secondary details, such as hair or folds, are rendered using simple engraved lines. When the First World War broke out, Csaky joined the same regiment of the Foreign Legion as Gustave Miklos. Demobilized in 1919, he devoted himself again to his abstract compositions, which were henceforth reduced to a set of cones, discs, cylinders and spheres. In 1920 he took part in the exhibition “Les Maîtres de Cubisme” held in the Galerie de Léonce Rosenberg, rue de Baume. The Hungarian emigrant is now an integral part of the artistic elite. In the mid-1920s, Csaky began to soften his strongly angular Cubist approach by borrowing from the more figurative style in vogue in the Parisian Salons, as demonstrated by his series of animal studies of 1924. He had a predilection for Burgundy limestone, rock crystal, granite and Belgian black marble. A founding member of the Union of Modern Artists (UAM), Csaky participated in its inaugural exhibition in 1930 at the Pavillon Marsan and he exhibited with this group for the next two years. Throughout the 1930s, he participated in the International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques, exhibited in numerous museums and galleries in Europe and the United States. His works are acquired by great collectors of modern art. Aware that cubism had influenced most of his early works, Csaky ensured that this style no longer stifled his creativity, especially after 1940. His works now denote a return to the figurative, their outlines gaining in roundness and gently, movement prevailing over form. Despite the importance of his work and the worldwide fame he enjoyed after a career of more than sixty years, he died in poverty. Sold with invoice and certificate Very good state of preservation General delivery conditions: We organize delivery worldwide. An estimate on request will be established at the time of your purchase.