Lot 98 : William Zorach (1887-1966)

William Zorach - 1887-1966

Auction Location: United States of America - 2008
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Title:

William Zorach (1887-1966)

Description:

William Zorach (1887-1966)
Interior and Exterior
signed and dated 'Zorach 1919' (lower right)
oil on canvas
36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm.)

Provenance:

The artist.
Tessim Zorach, son of the artist, New York, by 1968.
Zabriskie Gallery, New York.
Andrew Crispo Gallery, Inc., New York.
Sotheby's, New York, 3 December 1987, lot 286.
Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Exhibited:

New York, Arts Council of New York, 1929.
New York, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1955.
New York, The Downtown Gallery, 1955.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, and elsewhere, William Zorach, October 14-November 29, 1959, no. 47.
Brooklyn, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, William Zorach: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, 1911-1922, November 1968-January 1969, no. 27.
New York, Zabriskie Gallery, William Zorach Paintings and Watercolors, June-July 1981.

Published:

Whitney Museum of American Art, William Zorach, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1959, p. 14, illustrated.
W. Zorach, Art is My Life: The Autobiography of William Zorach, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967, p. 33, illustrated.
D.F. Hoopes, William Zorach: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, 1911-1922, exhibition catalogue, Brooklyn, New York, 1968, p. 42, no. 27, illustrated.

Notes:

THE COLLECTION OF ALICE LAWRENCE
On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in lots consigned for sale which may include guaranteeing a minimum price or making an advance to the consignor that is secured solely by consigned property. This is such a lot. This indicates both in cases where Christie's holds the financial interest on its own, and in cases where Christie's has financed all or a part of such interest through a third party. Such third parties generally benefit financially if a guaranteed lot is sold successfully and may incur a loss if the sale is not successful.
William Zorach's Interior and Exterior embodies the tenets of Analytic Cubism which is characterized by the breaking apart of the constituent parts of the composition before the distinct shards and fragments of the picture are reassembled. In Analytic Cubism the relationship between the parts and the whole is paramount and in the present work, the formal style of fragmentation suggests a metaphor for the relationship between mother and child. The various elements of the interaction between the figures are represented simultaneously, echoing the influence of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Paul Cézanne. The emphasis on shading, form, and line and the suggestion of abstraction creates a rigorous visual aesthetic, demanding close examination and a willingness to suspend traditional notions of space, time and perspective.

In describing an early preliminary study for Interior and Exterior, Zorach explained: "This picture is of a mother and child in the interior of a house. It is a cubist conception where the mother's activities with her child are portrayed simultaneously. You are not looking at one scene; you are looking at life in various forms combined with the exterior and interior of a city close at hand. It is a mystical interpretation of the life." (as quoted in Art is My Life: The Autobiography of William Zorach, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967, p. 33) Zorach goes on to explain that these preliminary explorations of space, human interaction, and the representation of multiple scenes and viewpoints was further developed and expanded in 1918 with Interior and Exterior.

Zorach was exposed to the Cubist and Fauvist movements while living in Paris in 1910 and exhibited at the 1911 Salon d'Automme. Zorach also had the opportunity to view Gertrude and Leo Stein's collection of Post-Impressionist, Fauvist, and Cubist works at their 27 rue de Fleurus home while living in Paris. Following his success in Europe, Zorach returned to New York and eventually exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show, which introduced Cubism to American audiences. Interior and Exterior is one of Zorach's most important and visually stunning Cubist paintings, incorporating multiple viewpoints, multidimensional space, and the simplification of natural forms into geometric shapes.