Listings / Fine Art / Sculpture / Figurative
Accidental Trip, c. 1930
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Description
CECIL DE BLAQUIERE HOWARD (1888-1956)
Accidental Trip, c. 1930
Bronze
4 7/8 x 4 ¾ inches
Signed at base: HOWARD
EXHIBITED
Carroll Carstairs Gallery, New York, Sport in Miniature Sculpture by Cecil Howard, November 17th - December 1st, 1936
Cecil de Blaquiere Howard was born in Canada in 1888 but moved to Buffalo, New York, in 1890, becoming an American citizen in 1896. He trained at the Art Students League of Buffalo, then located in the basement of Albright-Knoxx Art Gallery. In 1905 Howard travelled to Paris, settling in Montparnasse and attending the Académie Julian. Shortly afterwards, he befriended the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti and the two travelled to Antwerp in 1909 and produced sketches at the Antwerp Zoo. His interest in animalier sculpture was, however, short-lived, and the sculptor progressed to nudes and portraiture. In 1913, at the Armory Show in New York and Boston, he exhibited his full figure Lucy Krohg, carved circa 1911-12.
With the advent of the Great War, Howard initially worked as a stretcher bearer in the Anglo-French hospital, before joining the Red Cross in war-torn Serbia. He eventually travelled to the United States in 1915, exhibiting at the Gorham Galleries in New York. Returning to Paris in 1916, Howard was befriended by the poet, art critic and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire, who coined the word “Surrealism”.
Throughout the 1920’s, Howard exhibited both in Paris and the United States. His style arguably moves closer to that of other Parisian sculptors such as his friend Charles Despiau, famed for his elegant, classicising, nude figures. This style is ultimately embodied in one of Howard’s seminal sculptures, the Standing figure, exhibited at the Whitney Studio Club in 1928.
The move towards a cleaner, more athletic, idealised aesthetic runs parallel to Howard’s own sporting interests, which included horse riding and archery. Works such as the supremely elegant Baigneuse (1920) and the Tireuse à l’arc (1926-1928) combine an idealized, Amazonian figure with a studied attention to physiological accuracy. The artist’s interest in physicality and action can be seen in the charming studies of sporting subjects Howard produced in the 1930’s.
During World War II, Howard was eventually forced to return to the United States, and, in 1947, he was appointed Vice President of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. His involvement in France nevertheless continued. At the end of the War, because of his French knowledge and expertise, he was drafted into the US Army, and landed at Utah Beach in Normandy just three weeks after D-Day. His monumental Sun Bath was bought for the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1947 and Howard was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French Republic. He continued working until his death in New York in 1956. -
More Information
Origin: United States, New York Period: 1920-1949 Materials: Bronze Condition: Excellent. Creation Date: c. 1930 Styles / Movements: Impressionism, Realism Incollect Reference #: 200626 -
Dimensions
W. 4.75 in; H. 5 in; W. 12.07 cm; H. 12.7 cm;
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