Adolescent Girl (Torso)
Charles Despiau
French, 1874–1946
Details
Title
Adolescent Girl (Torso)
Artist/Maker
Charles Despiau (French, 1874–1946)
Date
1929
Medium
Plaster
Dimensions
49 5/8 x 18 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from Irene and Howard Stein
Accession #
2004.2
Charles Despiau was one of the leading French sculptors in the generation following Rodin. However, instead of continuing the older artist’s Romantic vision, he chose a more classical approach inspired by Greek art. This sculpture represents the final phase in a composition Despiau first conceived in the early 1920s. Beginning with the conventional figure of a standing girl, he gradually fragmented the full-length form until only the torso remained. The result is a severely reduced figure that nonetheless evokes beauty and elegance.