Joseph Csaky (1888-1971) - "modesty Or Purity"

Proof in brown patina bronze Cast from the Susse Frères edition made during the artist's lifetime Dated 1958 and signed on the base Height: 81 cm Bibliography: Reproduced in the dictionary of modern sculpture by Hazan – Reproduced in the work of Félix Marcilhac at the éditions de l'Amateur, Paris 2007 under the n° 1958-FM.326/b page 380 Biography: 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 in order to pursue an independent career in modeling and stone cutting. He completed several commissions, including a bust of the Count of Karoly, and left for Paris in 1908. He took a studio at La Ruche, the Montparnasse artists' refuge, and immediately joined the international community of artists who frequented the Vaugirard district. 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 in 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 in which one could observe all aspects of a sculpture without having to turn around it, that is, by simply moving one's gaze in space. An ardent promoter of the movement, Csaky was appointed secretary of the modern art magazine Montjoie in 1911. His first sculptures include "Tete d'Adolescent" in plaster and "Figure de femme debout". These are fully-fledged Cubist creations: monolithic masses with sharp edges that run from one plane to the other. 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 now reduced to a set of cones, disks, cylinders and spheres. In 1920 he participated in the exhibition "Les Maîtres de Cubisme" held in the Galerie de Léonce Rosenberg, rue de Baume. The Hungarian émigré was 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 popular 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 des Artistes Modernes (UAM), Csaky participated in its inaugural exhibition in 1930 at the Pavillon Marsan and would exhibit 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 were acquired by major 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 contours gaining in roundness and softness, movement prevailing over form. Despite the importance of his work and the worldwide fame he enjoyed after a career spanning more than sixty years, he died in poverty. Galerie Paris-Manaus Sold with invoice and certificate Very good condition General conditions of delivery: We organize delivery worldwide. A quote on request will be provided to you when you make your purchase.