Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (French, active in Britain, 1891–1915)
Wrestlers, about 1914
Linocut, printed posthumously by Horace Brodzky
Thick cream wove paper; 8 1/2 x 11 in. (22 x 27.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1968 (68.676.1)
Wrestlers, about 1914
Linocut, printed posthumously by Horace Brodzky
Thick cream wove paper; 8 1/2 x 11 in. (22 x 27.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1968 (68.676.1)
Killed in action in 1915 while serving with the French army, Gaudier-Brzeska was one of Vorticism's most committed, though sadly short-lived, participants. A skilled sculptor, he briefly experimented with printmaking, producing only a few etchings and this single linocut based on a plaster relief of the subject. The linocut transforms the wrestlers' bodies into a series of flat, interlocking planes that emphasize their push-pull movements rather than their solid forms.
Gaudier-Brzeska died before this print was editioned by his friend and fellow artist, Horace Brodsky, who had encouraged him to try the new medium of linocut. It was the first major British modernist work in this new technique.
Gaudier-Brzeska died before this print was editioned by his friend and fellow artist, Horace Brodsky, who had encouraged him to try the new medium of linocut. It was the first major British modernist work in this new technique.