Jeune fille aux anglaises - Léon Indenbaum (1890-1981)

Head of a young girl in bronze with a black patina. It represents a young girl in a typical Art Deco style. The prominent chin, the hooked nose, and high cheekbones are clear, bold features that reflect the model’s appearance and indicate a commissioned piece. The artist sculpted this face with clean lines, pure traits in the search for the simplified forms of Cubism which grew in importance from 1907. The precise lines and the stylised shape of the eyebrows are the extension of the contours of the nose, creating a harmonious whole. The half-closed eyes with a similar design make this head very expressive. The hair, brushed flat on the head down to the cheekbones then in curls from there to the neck, is treated with the same powerful intensity. The sculpture is mounted on its original wooden base. Signed 'Indenbaum'
Piece created circa 1913
Numbered 2/12 - cast during the artist’s lifetime around 1960.

Dimensions: Height: 11 ½ in. Width: 8 in. Depth: 9 ¾ in.
Base: Height: 5½ in. Width: 10 in. Depth: 8 in.

Exhibition:
De la Bible à nos jours, Grand Palais, Paris, 1985. A proof from this series was exhibited.
Mémoire et cultures juives, Musée de l’histoire vivante de Montreuil, 1989. A proof from this series was exhibited.
Paris, patrie des peintres étrangers, travelling exhibition in Japan (Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka), 1989-1990. A proof from this series was exhibited.
Trésors du Petit Palais de Genève : de Renoir à Kisling, Marseille, Hall du Palais de la Bourse - Chambre du Commerce et d’Industrie, 27 juin-1er oct. 1990. A proof from this series belonging to Oscar Ghez was exhibited.
Montparnasse, Atelier du Monde, ses artistes venus d’ailleurs et Hommage à Kisling, Forum des arts, Place de la Bourse, Marseille, 1990. A proof from this series was exhibited.
Kisling et ses amis, National Museum, Varsovie, Cracovie, 1996. A proof from this series was exhibited.

Provenance: The artist's family

Remarks: Born in Russia, Léon Indenbaum studied at the Imperial Art School of Odessa in Ukraine, before immigrating to France in 1911. Until 1927 he lived at the Ruche, where he frequented the community of Russian artists such as Chagall and Soutine, as well as other artists of Montparnasse, who would be called later the Ecole de Paris. Indeed at this time Paris was the artistic centre of the world where all the Avant-garde movements were concentrated. When he arrived in Paris, Indenbaum was influenced by the early research in Cubism which proposed an extreme simplification of shapes. This piece, sculpted in 1913 clearly reflects this influence. Indenbaum succeeded in expressing the model’s features with extremely simplified lines that give this piece its bold, expressive power. His portrait of the painter Foujita from around the same time (1915, cement, Musée Despiau Wlérick in Mont-de-Marsan, France) was created using the same approach. This piece is typical of his first Parisian creations, which are part of early investigation into Cubism.
Having the studio’s plaster (which had disappeared since the war) made in 1913, the Musée du Petit Palais of Geneva asked a drawing right to Léon Idenbaum. The artist responded favourably to this request and was given by this institution, now editor of the model, a bronze proof.

Bibliography :
De la Bible à nos jours, cat. expo., (Grand Palais, Paris), 1985, n°56, p.323, for a poof of this series.
Mémoire et cultures juives, cat. expo., (Musée de l’histoire vivante, Montreuil), 1989, p.49, for a poof of this series.
Paris, patrie des peintres étrangers, cat. expo., (Tokyo-Sendai-Nagoya-Yokohama-Kyoto-Osaka, Japon), 1989-1990, n°37, for a poof of this series.
Trésors du Petit Palais de Genève « de Renoir à Kisling », cat. exp., (Hall du Palais de la Bourse - Chambre du Commerce et d’Industrie, Marseille), 1990, n° 60 p. 63, for a poof of this series.
Montparnasse, Atelier du Monde, ses artistes venus d’ailleurs et Hommage à Kisling, cat. expo., (Forum des arts, Place de la Bourse, Marseille), 1990, p.52, for a poof of this series.
Kisling et ses amis, cat. expo., (National Museum, Varsovie, Cracovie), 1996, p.125, for a poof of this series.