Personal and professional papers of Jacques Lipchitz
1910–73
Jacques Lipchitz (22 August 1891-26 May 1973) was a French-American sculptor of the Cubist style. He was born to a Jewish family in Druskieniki, present day Lithuania, then a part of the Russian Empire. In 1909 he moved to Paris to study sculpture and, with some short gaps, stayed there until his emmigration to the USA in 1942. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915-16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, and dominated by a synthetic style of Crystal Cubism. In 1920 Lipchitz held his first solo exhibition, at Léonce Rosenberg's Galerie L'Effort Moderne in Paris. Fleeing the Nazis he moved to the USA in 1942 and settled in New York City and eventually to Hastings-on-Hudson.
These digitised materials include 280 pages of his three notebooks showing the artist in his early days in Paris (1915-25), during the hardships of the war and before his ability as a sculptor was widely recognised. There are also around 1000 items from Lipchitz's personal and business correspondence, reflecting his connections with European artists (Moishe Kisling, Le Corbusier, Karl Teige), and his personal life, evident in his letters to his wife Berthe, parents, siblings, and close friends. There are 150 documents related to two of Lipchitz's artistic and political projects before the Second World War, namely his participation in the Paris International Exhibition of 1937 and his trip to the USSR in 1935. Also included are 50 of his drawings and several examples of rare printed materials, such as early Cubist and Futurist journals and the publications of emigre Russsian communities in Paris. Finally there are more than 1000 photographs, mostly of maquettes of his statues, but also of his family and friends.
- Collection Owner
- Jacques Lipchitz 1891–1973
- Collection
- Tate Archive
- Acquisition
- Presented to Tate Archive by Rubin Lipchitz, March 1989; the cataloguing and selective digitisation of this archive collection was supported by Mr Timm Bergold, 2023
- Reference
- TGA 897
451 objects in this collection
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Personal and professional papers of Jacques Lipchitz
451 Objects
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Correspondence
212 Objects
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Artworks
23 Objects
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Business papers
60 Objects
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Personal papers
18 Objects
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Writings
12 Objects
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Printed material
18 Objects
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Photographs
108 Objects
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Original sets of photographs
42 Objects
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Photographs of sculptures made by known photographers
7 Objects
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Photographs of sculptures made by unknown photographers
0 Object
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Indoor photographs of Jacques Lipchitz’s sculptures and models
0 Object
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Outdoor photographs of Jacques Lipchitz’s sculptures and models
3 Objects
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Photographs of drawings and sketches by Jacques Lipchitz
16 Objects
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Photographs of art works by other artists
5 Objects
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Photographs of people
35 Objects
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- Title
- Outdoor photographs of Jacques Lipchitz’s sculptures and models
- Date
- [1911–66]
- Description
- File contains 39 prints and two negatives. The photographs show sculptures and models by Jacques Lipchitz in different outdoor spaces, including permanent exhibition spaces and at collectors' homes.
Full list of photographs:
TGA 897/5/1 - 'Woman and Gazelles' (1911-12). Identified by the cataloguer.
2-7 - a version of the 'Baigneuse' (Bather, 1924).6 and 7 are print and negative, depicting it at the Pavillon made by Le Corbusier and P. Jeanneret at the 'Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs. Paris. 1925'.
8-10 - 'Reclining Nude with Guitar' (1928), in two different locations. Identified by the cataloguer.
11-12 - 'Joie de Vivre' ('Joy of Life', 1927), most likely taken at the Villa of Charles de Noailles. Identified by the cataloguer. Similar to the photographs in TGA 897/7/1/11.
13 - 'David and Goliath' (1933). Identified by the cataloguer.
14-20 - different versions of 'Le Chant des Voyelles' (1930) in different locations. Title on the back.
21-22 - print and negative showing 'Prometheus Strangling the Vulture' at the Palais de la Decouverte, during the 'Exposition Internationale Paris 1937'.
23-29 - 'Mere et Enfant' ('Mother and Child' 1941), from different angles. Each print has inscriptions on the reverse saying that the photographs were taken at the property of Mr Edgraud Kaufmann next to 'chauson sur chute d'eau' made by the architect is Franc Lloyd Wright.
30-35 - 'Prometheus Strangling the Vulture' on the wall of the Ministry of Education in Rio-de-Janeiro. Three prints (33-35) hold the photographer's stamp: 'Adolph Studly. 40 East 49 St, New York'.
36-38 - 'Government of the People' (1967-70), photographs taken at the Municipal Plaza, Philadelphia. Identified and dated by the cataloguer.
39-40 - several sculptures, including the later version of 'Chant des Voyelles' and 'Orpheus', taken in the garden of a museum.
41 - 'Peace on Earth' (1966). Photograph taken during the mounting. - Reference
- TGA 897/7/5
