Boris Lovet-Lorski Nude Drawings and Watercolors

Untitled (Standing Female Nude) Graphite on paper, c. 1930 Signed bottom right: Lorski (see photo) Sheet size: 9 5/16 x 5 13/16 inches From a sketchbook created while the artist was working in Paris Condition: Good Thin spots verso from previous mounting Soft vertical fold running across image Barely visible on recto Provenance: Estate of the Artist Dawson's Auctioneers and Appraisers, 2001 Amity Art Foundation 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...

Untitled (Seated Female Nude facing right) Graphite on wove paper, with watercolors Signed with the artist's initials BLL lower right (see photo) Sheet size: 9 1/4 x 6 inches From a sketchbook created while the artist was working in Paris, c. 1930 Unidentified inscription lower left in circle with the initials MD and the date 1940 Provenance: Estate of the Artist Dawson's Auctioneers and Appraisers, 2001 Amity Art Foundation 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...