Accession Number
1968/2.61

Title
Still Life with Musical Instruments (Study for a Bas-Relief)

Artist(s)
Jacques Lipchitz

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1918

Medium & Support
graphite on paper

Dimensions
14 3/16 in x 9 5/8 in (36.1 cm x 24.4 cm);22 1/16 in x 18 1/16 in (56.04 cm x 45.88 cm);17 15/16 in x 12 11/16 in (45.5 cm x 32.2 cm)

Credit Line
The Florence L. Stol Collection

Subject matter
This work is a preparatory drawing that Jacques Lipchitz completed for one of the numerous Still Life bas relief sculptures he made in 1918 and 1919. At this time, planning his sculputres with drawings became increasingly important to Lipchitz, as he often felt overwhelmed by the rigourous process of conceptualizing and then creating free-standing sculptures. This drawing is a clear representation of the artist's interest in Cubism with it's geometrical depiction of musical instruments.

Physical Description
This drawing shows a few musical instruments abstracted in a cubist way. The largest and central instrument seems to be a guitar while below and to the left, behind the guitar, there seems to be a flute-like piece.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Musical instruments
abstraction
bas-reliefs (sculpture)
geometric shape
modern and contemporary art
musical instruments
preparatory drawings
still lifes
study