1960s Abstract Marble Sculpture Circle of Etienne Hajdu

About Auction

Live

Fine Antiquities, Ancient & Pre-Columbian Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Dec 7, 2023

Set Reminder 2023-12-07 10:00:00 2023-12-07 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities, Ancient & Pre-Columbian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-ancient-pre-columbian-art-14361
Classical antiquities, ancient, and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Asian, Pre-Columbian, Native American, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Spanish Colonial, Fine / Visual Arts, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

View Full Catalog (251)

• Lot Description
  **This item is heavy/oversized and will require 3rd party shipping. Please inquire about shipping cost prior to bidding.**
  
  Circle of Etienne Hajdu (XX). Abstract figural marble sculpture, ca. 1962. A finely carved abstract figural marble sculpture by the circle of Etienne Hajdu. The tall and elegant statue is comprised of a crescent-like form atop a rounded columnar lower section. Attractive grey veining runs throughout the marble, and the sculpture is skillfully polished to a uniform sheen. In accordance with the Guggenheim Museum's discussion of Hajdu, the piece is "derived from the human form abstracted into volumetric outlines and pseudo-geometric shapes that cleave distinctively into their surrounding space". Size: 6" L x 8" W x 22.25" H (15.2 cm x 20.3 cm x 56.5 cm)
  
  About Etienne Hajdu: "Etienne Hajdu was born Istvan Hajdu on August 12, 1907, in Romanian Transylvania. Under the encouragement of his Hungarian parents, Hajdu pursued his interests in carving and art, and as a teenager, he trained at a Budapest vocational school in preparation for work in the timber industry. In 1926 his passion and talent for woodwork led to a short period of study in 1926 at Vienna's Kunstgewerbeschule des osterreichischen Museums fur Kunst und Industrie followed in 1927 by his relocation to Paris. There he studied sculpture at the bastions of classical art: the studio of Emile-Antoine Bourdelle at the Academie de la grande chaumiere (1927); Ecole des arts decoratifs (1928); and École nationale superieure des beaux-arts (1928). By 1930, inspired by an exhibition of Fernand Leger's modernist abstractions, Hajdu abandoned his formal education and instead engaged in the world of his avant-garde contemporaries, especially painters Maria Helena Vieira da Silva and Arpad Szenès, with whom he had his gallery debut in 1939 at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris. Hajdu obtained French citizenship in 1930 and served in the army from 1931 to 1932, and again from 1939 to 1940. Between tours, he traveled for study: classical sculpture in Crete and Greece, Piet Mondrian's paintings in the Netherlands, and the Romanesque sculpture and structures within the French countryside. Each experience had an indelible effect on Hajdu's art, which further evolved during his 1940–44 stint as a stonecutter in a Pyrenean marble factory. His exploration of different stones—onyx, marble, and slate—had a formative effect, and in 1944 he produced his first marble sculptures. Often highly polished to a uniform, undulating sheen, Hajdu's sculpture was expressionist in theme, derived from the human form abstracted into volumetric outlines and pseudo-geometric shapes that cleave distinctively into their surrounding space. Postwar advances in machinery and technology led to experimentation in aluminum, copper, and bronze, along with welding, hammering, and riveting. Modeling metal with his characteristic sinuous contours, he created freestanding sculptures and large reliefs that echo the body within their abstract, almost sublime, compositions. Hajdú had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris (1946), and his sculptures were first exhibited through the Salon de Mai, Paris (1947). The salon was an informal group of Parisian artists who celebrated the avant-garde and exhibited Hajdú's work again in 1950 in both Paris and Tokyo, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s in Paris. Hajdú's sculpture was introduced to American audiences through The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors, Museum of Modern Art, New York (1955). His sculptures also were exhibited alongside line drawings in Sculptures and Drawings from 7 Sculptors, Guggenheim Museum, and he received his New York gallery debut at M. Knoedler & Company (both 1958). The Musée des beaux-arts, Dijon, France, mounted a retrospective, which traveled to the Mucsarnok, Budapest (1978), and Muzeul National de Arta al României, Bucharest (1979). In 1969, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Hajdú the Grand Prix National de Sculpture. Hajdú died on March 24, 1996, in Bagneux, France.
  
  Provenance: Ex-Denenberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California USA; ex-private Los Angeles, California, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #180183

  Condition

  Finely carved and polished. The sculpture is not signed. Surface has a few etch marks and filled surface crevices. Marble is white with grey veining and nice areas of warmer red hues.
• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 26.50 %