Elie Nadelman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Eliasz Nadelman 20 February 1882 |
| Died | 28 December 1946 |
| Nationality | Polish, American |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | School of Paris (École de Paris) |
| Patron(s) | Helena Rubinstein |
Elie Nadelman (bornEliasz Nadelman; February 20, 1882 – December 28, 1946) was a Polish-Americansculptor,draughtsman of theSchool of Paris and a collector of folk art.[1][2]
Nadelman was born into a Jewish family inWarsaw in 1882.[1] He studied briefly in Warsaw and then visitedMunich in 1902 where he became interested in Classical antiquities at theGlyptothek. He lived in Paris from 1904 to 1914, closely involved with the avant-garde, exhibiting at theSociété des Artistes Indépendants and at theSalon d'Automne from 1905 to 1908. His first solo exhibition in 1909 at the Galerie Druet, Paris, revealed a large series of plaster and bronze classical female heads and full-length standing nudes and mannered Cubist drawings; the latter purchased by Leo Stein, who had broughtPicasso to Nadelman's studio in 1908.[3] Nadelman's work in this early period (1905–1912)[4] was of crucial importance for early 20th-century modern sculpture.[citation needed]
He moved to the United States (becoming an American citizen in 1927) during the outbreak of World War I. He married Mrs. Viola Flannery, a wealthy heiress, in 1920.[5] He and his wife assembled a large collection of folk art and erected a Museum of Folk Arts in Riverdale, N.Y. in 1925.[2] At the same time, his own style was at times Classical, at times decorative, and at times a new kind of sophisticated urban folk art. He attempted to release large, inexpensive editions of his simple, classical, Tanagra-like small figures. All in all, Nadelman collected thousands upon thousands of folk art and added them to his vast collection.
From the 1920s, until his death, Nadelman lived and worked in theRiverdale neighborhood ofthe Bronx.[6]
Eventually, as his wealth vanished in theDepression and his work failed to interest the art world, he became more peripheral to the collectors ofModernism. He did not take commissions other than portraits. In 1937 the collection of the Museum of Folk Arts was sold to theNew York Historical Society.[2] He held his last one-man exhibition in 1930 (Paris,Bernheim-Jeune). In 1935 many of his plaster figures and wood-carvings were destroyed[why?] by workmen sent to remodel his studio. Nadelman packed away all his pre-1935 work in the attic and cellar of his home in Riverdale and left it there to disintegrate.[citation needed] After his death, inRiverdale, on December 28, 1946, his sculpture "Man in the Open Air", was restored and reintroduced in a retrospective atMOMA, New York. His reputation has grown since his death, and his work is in many major museums and surveys of American art history.[citation needed]
In Paris his work created a stir, especially his ideal head 'La Mysterieuse.'
