The nude, particularly idealized representations of the female form, was a frequent subject in Lee’s early career and remained his strongest interest. This sensuous female torso suggests Lee’s indebtedness to fragments of classical statuary that he saw during his travels to Europe. Modeled in Paris in 1915, it is one of his finest examples of the fragmented form and features graceful contours and a delicate, refined surface.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Volupté
Artist:Arthur Lee (American (born Norway), Trondheim 1881–1961 Newtown, Connecticut)
Date:1915
Medium:Marble
Dimensions:38 1/2 × 14 × 11 in. (97.8 × 35.6 × 27.9 cm) Weight: 264 lb. (119.7 kg)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Anonymous Gift, 1924
Accession Number:24.239
Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (right side of base): TO R L C/ ARTHUR LEE/ PARIS 1915; inscribed (front and right side of base): VOLVPTÉ
anonymous donors (1924; their gift to MMA)
Art Institute of Chicago. "Half a Century of American Art," November 16, 1939–January 7, 1940, no. 208.
Westbury, N. Y. Old Westbury Gardens. "150 Years of American Sculpture," June 14–August 28, 1960, no. 47.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Figure in American Sculpture: A Question of Modernity," February 26–April 30, 1995, unnumbered cat. (pl. 61).
Montgomery, Ala. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. "The Figure in American Sculpture: A Question of Modernity," June 22–September 10, 1995, unnumbered cat.
Wichita Art Museum. "The Figure in American Sculpture: A Question of Modernity," October 22, 1995–January 7, 1996, unnumbered cat.
New York. National Academy of Design. "The Figure in American Sculpture: A Question of Modernity," February 15–May 5, 1996, unnumbered cat.
Richard Mason. "Metropolitan Museum Award of $3,000 Saves Sculptor From Being Ejected for Lack of Rent." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (January 18, 1925), p. 118, ill. (unknown cast), recounts the artist's erroneous claim that this work was purchased by the Museum.
Albert TenEyck Gardner. American Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1965, pp. 142–43, ill.
William H. Gerdts. The Great American Nude: A History in Art. New York, 1974, p. 182, fig. 9-9.
Wayne Craven. Sculpture in America. Rev. ed. (1st ed., 1968). Newark, 1984, p. 563, fig. 15.5.
Marlene Park in Ilene Susan Fort. The Figure in American Sculpture: A Question of Modernity. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1995, p. 63, pl. 61.
Joan M. Marter inAmerican Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Thayer Tolles. Vol. 2, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1865 and 1885. New York and New Haven, 2001, pp. 653–54, no. 299, ill.
Paul Manship (American, St. Paul, Minnesota 1885–1966 New York)
1925–26; cast 1927
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
