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It is hard to overstate the importance of this work within Henri Gaudier-Brzeskaās oeuvre. This exceptionally rare oil on canvas portrays the artistās own reflection alongside his first formal commission, a plaster of a Madonna, now in the collection of Kettleās Yard.[1] In fact, only three oil paintings on canvas appear to be recorded in Gaudier-Brzeska's body of work, and the present work is one of only two recorded painted self-portraits by the artist.
Gaudier is revered as an innovative sculptor and artist who, despite his tragically short career, was immensely prolific, producing around 120 sculptures and over 2000 works on paper. However, upon moving to London in 1911 as an aspiring artist, Gaudier struggled to garner commissions. Afflicted by abject poverty, his frayed shirts and less than āsharpā appearance dissatisfied the upper echelons of society, whose commissions he coveted.[2] To financially facilitate his artistic ambitions, he worked as a clerk in the City of London and frequented local public...
It is hard to overstate the importance of this work within Henri Gaudier-Brzeskaās oeuvre. This exceptionally rare oil on canvas portrays the artistās own reflection alongside his first formal commission, a plaster of a Madonna, now in the collection of Kettleās Yard.[1] In fact, only three oil paintings on canvas appear to be recorded in Gaudier-Brzeska's body of work, and the present work is one of only two recorded painted self-portraits by the artist.
Gaudier is revered as an innovative sculptor and artist who, despite his tragically short career, was immensely prolific, producing around 120 sculptures and over 2000 works on paper. However, upon moving to London in 1911 as an aspiring artist, Gaudier struggled to garner commissions. Afflicted by abject poverty, his frayed shirts and less than āsharpā appearance dissatisfied the upper echelons of society, whose commissions he coveted.[2] To financially facilitate his artistic ambitions, he worked as a clerk in the City of London and frequented local public houses, offering to draw customers for a penny each. This work depicts the artistās first commission, requested from the young couple Thomas Leman Hare and ThĆ©rĆØse Hare. The Hareās became two of the artistās biggest advocates and subsequently commissioned the present painting, which was likely executed in their home at 35 Pembroke Road, Earls Court, London.[3]
The Leman Hareās original commission was a small statue of Princess Norina Matchabelli (acting name Madame Maria Carmi), who was then playing a leading role in Carl Vollmƶller and Max Reinhardtās sensational production The Miracle. The elaborate performance ran from December 1911 to February 1912 at the Great Hall, Olympia and boasted āvast crowd scenes, processions, real horses and an entire moving hillā, set within the interior of a medieval church, likely that depicted on the reverse of the present work [fig. 1]. The Hares, as recorded by Gaudier, were enraptured by Carmiās performance and had returned to see the play eight times. On the night of the final performance, Mrs Hare rang the doorbell of Gaudierās home and proposed the commission, requesting that he and his partner Sophie accompany her immediately to the Great Hall. That evening, Gaudier took sixty sketches of the performance from which he produced the final sculpture [fig. 2]. Gaudier described the process in a letter to the Hareās good friend Haldane Macfall: āOff we went as tired as could be, made about sixty sketches of the subject, came back homeā¦at 1 oāclock yesterday, and spent the whole morning putting up the clay for the thing.ā[4]
Depicting the sculpture in full polychrome, the present work offers an interesting insight into the artistās early sculptural working method. The pigments of Gauiderās original plaster have since faded [fig. 3]. However, in a letter to Macfall, Gaudier notes that Thomas Hare suggested painting the sculpture in bright colours; āMr Hare gave me a very good idea. He suggested that I should indicate on the plaster cast the different colours gold, red and blue and this I will do.ā[5] Employing a fauvist colour palette and a sculptor's discerning understanding of form, Gaudier has captured the once vibrant contours of his own artistic creation.
The small figure positioned in the lower left corner of the composition may also depict another early work by Gaudier. Gaudier began visiting the Zoo in late 1911, where he became particularly fascinated with gorillas and chimpanzees, fervently creating drawings and small plaster models of the animals he encountered. Claude Lovatt Fraser, an artist, designer, and Fellow of the Zoological Society, generously granted Gaudier complimentary green tickets to the Zoo, a resource that significantly enriched his artistic practice. Fraser also purchased a jungle cat model from him for Ā£2. A head-and-shoulders study of a gorilla, known to have been cast in bronze in 1938, bares striking compositional similarities to the small figure shown on the left side, positioned behind the Madonna plaster, and possibly indicates the existence of a related sculpture [fig. 4].
Gaudier depicts his own self-portrait, poised with a paintbrush, situated behind the Madonna. His featureless face echoes the mask-like faces of Henri Matisseās paintings such as Dance and Dance I. Only one other self-portrait is known to have been painted by Gaudier in oil and is much more traditional in style. In this self-portrait, brazenly modern in its conception, Gaudier gives prominence to his work, placing himself in the background, calling into question the delicate balance between an artist and their creations.
The Hareās continued to invest in Gaudierās practice throughout his short career and assisted him in securing a studio: āTommy and Chuquie have put quite a pace on to find me a studio ā¦ Tommy, with his knowing air, has given me to understand that if I take a studio he wants me to take he will get me some orders for illustrations.ā[6] This painting may be the composition referred to in a letter by Gaudier to his partner, Sophie Brzeska, penned after the original sculpture commission; āYesterday I made a fairly good composition for Tomsy [Mr Hare] and I will paint it on Sunday.ā[7]
With only three recorded oil paintings to his name, this self-portrait stands as a testament to Gaudierās unconventional path as an artist. The artistās struggle for commissions in the bustling artistic landscape of early twentieth-century London, where financial hardship often overshadowed creative brilliance, is vividly captured in this work. It converges Gaudierās early artistic ambition, innovation and the friendships that became central to his tumultuous yet passionate pursuit of art.
ļ»æ
[1] Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Madonna (Maria Carmi as the Madonna), 1912. Kettleās Yard: ļ»æhttps://www.kettlesyard.cam.ac...ļ»æ
[2] H. E. Ede, (2011) Savage Messiah. Cambridge: Kettleās Yard and Henry Moore Institute, p.42
[3] Thomas Leman Hare was a publisher and collector and in the 1920s became editor of Apollo magazine.
[4] Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, quoted in P. OāKeefe, (2004) Gaudier-Brzeska: An Absolute Case of Genius. London: Allen Lane.
[5] Referenced in Sophie Brzeska, (2008) Matka and Other Writings. London: Mercury Graphics. We are grateful to Dr Evelyn Silber for her assistance with this reference.
[6] H. E. Ede, Savage Messiah. Cambridge: Kettleās Yard and Henry Moore Institute, 2011, p. 162
[7] Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Letter to Sophie Brzeska. 11 Oct 1912. quoted in H. E. Ede (2011) Savage Messiah. Cambridge: Kettleās Yard and Henry Moore Institute, p. 115.
