Morice Lipsi (Lipschitz) (1898-1986) Abstract composition in wood

About this piece

This abstract sculpture is attributed to the Polish/French sculptor Morice Lipsi (1898-1986) and is directly carved from wood. It is quite possible that this work was intended as a study for a larger sculpture that would be sculpted from stone. Lipsi frequently worked with stone, often carving his sculptures directly from the material. During World War II, he began creating increasingly abstract works, and this piece is very characteristic and recognizable of his work from the 1950s.

The work is signed.

Biography:

Morice LIPSI (born Moryce Lipszyc/Lipschitz)
Łódź (Poland) 1898 – Zurich (Switzerland) 1986

Morice Lipsi was born as the youngest child in a large traditional Jewish family in Lódź, Poland. In 1912, he arrived in Paris and settled at La Ruche, where his brother Samuel was already living.

La Ruche in Montparnasse, was an artists colony where many young artists from around the world, especially Eastern Europe, settled when they arrived in Paris, the capital of art. Among them were Chagall, Zadkine, Indenbaum, Modigliani, Soutine, Rembrandt Bugatti and many others. It is often referred to as the École de Paris due to their innovative styles of working, a nickname given by an art critic to distinguish them, as they were not recognized as French artists in the Salons.

Samuel Lipschitz, a sculptor primarily specialising in ivory, taught him the various techniques and materials used in sculpture. Additionally, from 1916, Morice Lipsi was a student at the l'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Starting in 1921, he exhibited his works at official exhibitions in Paris. In 1922, his first solo exhibition took place at the Galerie Hébrard in Paris.

In 1929, Moryce Lipszyc adopted the name Morice Lipsi to distinguish himself from his brother and Jacques Lipchitz, who had moved to La Ruche five years earlier. In 1930, he married Swiss artist Hildegard Weber and moved to a farm south of Paris. In the 1930s, Morice Lipsi worked alone, far from the artistic schools and movements of his time. He acquired French nationality in 1933.

In 1937, his work was presented at the World Fair.

In 1940, Lipsi participated in the wartime exodus and found refuge in Abzac, in the Charente region, where he continued to work with the help of the town council. He later escaped to Geneva, where he spent time with his friend Alberto Giacometti.

After the war, he returned to Paris. His brother Samuel was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943 by the Nazis. His entire large Polish family perished during the war, and Morice Lipsi and his family were the only ones who survived.

From the 1960s, Lipsi served as the president of the sculpture department at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. In the 1960s and 70s, he was commissioned to create numerous monumental statues in France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Iceland, and Japan. He died in 1986 near Zurich.

Many of his works are currently exhibited at the Morice Lipsi Museum in Rosey, in the Haute-Saône department.

Literature:

• Roger Gindertael; 'Morice Lipsi', Edition du Griffon, Neuchâtel, 1965.
• Gabrielle Beck-Lipsi; 'Morice Lipsi et son son musée à Rosey, édition Musée Morice Lipsi, Rosey, 2001.
• Nadine Nieszawer et Deborah Princ; 'Histoires des Artistes Juifs de l'École de Paris 1905-1939: Stories of Jewish Artists of the School of Paris (French Edition), Les Etoiles Éditions, Avril 2020. (Bio)

Condition

The wood has aged over time, resulting in some cracks. A restorer has carefully restored the sculpture by filling in some of these cracks, and the stone pedestal has also been touched up. The pedestal has a few chips along the edges. Please see the photos for details.