Boris Lovet-Lorski Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Preliminary Study for Cretan Dancer Bronze Graphite on tracing paper, 1930 Unsigned Note: The bronze sculpture measures 24 1/2 x 33 5/8 inches and is signed and dated 1930 on the bas...

Famed Art Deco Sculptor Boris Lovet-Lorski depicts his signature "Stallion." in this stunningly elegant drawing. It features a nude female that is c...

Untitled (Two Standing Nudes, one seated nude) Graphite on wove paper, heightened with color, c. 1930 Unsigned From a sketchbook created while the artist was working in Paris Conditi...

Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project Graphite, charcoal and wash on tracing paper, c. 1930-1940 Signed upper left and lower left (see both photos) Created while the artist was l...

Preliminary study for Cretan Dancer bronze sculpture Unsigned Graphite on tracing paper, 1930-1934 Sheet size: 6 7/8 x 7 1/8 inches Created while the artist was woring in Paris, c. 1930 “The stylizing of the Cretan allegories, used in figures of animals such as horses and bulls, symbolizes the ancient power of the South. These figures reveal a spiritual sensuality as he strives to attain a symbol of the earth and universe endowed with musical values. If man is the center of his idea of life and nature, it is because of the laws that govern the movement of stars and history. The link binding his figures together has, in a sense, a Pythagorean harmony.” Salvatore Quasimodo, Milan, 1967, quoted from Bush, Boris Lover-Lorski: The Language of Time, page 12. Regarding the artist: Boris Lovet-Lorski Lithuanian/Russian/American 1894-1973 Sculptor, painter, and printmaker, Boris Lovet-Lorski was born in Lithuania in 1894. His mother died when he was age three. His father was affluent and owned real estate. Boris grew up in a privileged environment. He studied architecture and then fine arts at the Imperial Academy of Art in Petrograd, Russia (now Saint Petersburg). Following the revolution in 1917 and its aftermath, Boris immigrated to Boston to live with his brother. In the 1920’s, his stylized, Art Deco inspired sculptures, lithographs, and paintings proved to be popular among the American elite. He exhibited frequently, holding his first solo exhibition in Boston, 1920. In the following years, Boris exhibited in New York at Marie Sterner Gallery, Jacques Seligmann Galleries and Wildenstein and Company. He lived in Paris from 1926 to 1932 where he befriended Joseph Hecht, and was exposed to the works of Pablo Picasso, Ossip Zadkine, Contantin Brancusi and Aristide Maillol. In 1932 he returned to America where he became a citizen later in the decade. Lovet-Lorski exhibited in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia. He was a member of the Society of Independent Artists (New York), the National Academy of Design (New York), and the Lotos Club (New York), as well as several Parisian salons. His work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Musée Luxembourg, Bibliotèque Nationale, and the Petit Palais in France, the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (A more extensive list of his works in museums follows) He is considered one of the most successful and recognized sculptors of his generation. His creative influence can be seen in many of his contemporary artists. He died in Los Angeles in 1973. Regarding his iconic Art Deco sculptures of Cretan Dancers: “The stylizing of the Cretan allegories, used in figures of animals such as horses and bulls, symbolizes the ancient power of the South. These figures reveal a spiritual sensuality as he strives to attain a symbol of the earth and universe endowed with musical values. If man is the center of his idea of life and nature, it is because of the laws that govern the movement of stars and history. The link binding his figures together has, in a sense, a Pythagorean harmony.” Salvatore Quasimodo, Milan, 1967, quoted from Bush, Boris Lover-Lorski: The Language of Time, page 12. Lovet-Lorski created sculptures of the following major figures I.J. Paderewski, Prime Minister of Poland Arturo Toscanini, Italian Conductor Lilian Gish, Actress President Franklin D. Roosevelt Mrs. M. C. Niarchos, wife of Stavros Niarchos President Abraham Lincoln James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, First Secretary of Defense Pope Pius XII Dr. Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist President Dwight D. Eisenhower Albert Schweitzer, theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician General Charles De Gaulle, President of the Fourth and Fifth Republic, France John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, 1953-1959 President John F. Kennedy Works by Lover Lorski are in the following public collections: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo Art Institute of Chicago Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris Brandeis University, Waltham, MA British Museum, London Boston University Brooklyn Museum California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Sam Francisco...