Water Carrier

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Artist/Maker Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (French, 1891 - 1915 (active London))

Datec. 1913

MediumSeravazza and Sicilian marble

DimensionsOverall: 16 1/2 × 4 7/8 × 3 7/8 in. (41.9 × 12.4 × 9.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Pound, wife of Omar S. Pound, Class of 1951

Object number2005.6.2

On view

DescriptionHenri Gaudier was born into a family of carpenters near Orléans. He moved to Paris in September 1909 and then, in 1911, after deciding to become a sculptor, moved to London with his companion, Sophie Brzeska, whose name he appended to his own. There, Gaudier-Brzeska became acquainted with various figures in the art scene, including the critic Roger Fry and the artists Wyndham Lewis and Edward Wadsworth, and managed to bridge the often sparring factions. Roger Fry commissioned Water Carrier for sale at his Omega Workshops, an arts venue meant to introduce the general public to modern art and abstraction by incorporating it into household goods such as textiles and furniture. In 1914, however, Gaudier-Brzeska became more closely affiliated with the poet Ezra Pound, the sculptor Jacob Epstein, and Lewis, who had broken with Fry, creating a splinter group called the Rebel Art Centre; the four went on that summer to found the Vorticist movement. Although many of Gaudier-Brzeska’s early sculptures were modeled in clay, he carved this sculpture directly in marble; as his reputation grew, he was ever more vociferous regarding the virility of the direct-carving technique: “Every stroke of the hammer is a physical and a mental effort.” In his writings, he celebrated “primitivism,” which he associated particularly with “Paleolithic” and ancient Egyptian art, in contrast to the classicism of the Greeks. At the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, Gaudier-Brzeska returned to France to enlist, having been caught up in a nationalistic fervor that surprised his fellow artists. He was killed on June 5, 1915, at the age of twenty-three. Water Carrier belonged to his close friend Pound, Class of 1905, H1939. It passed from Pound to his wife, the artist Dorothy Shakespear, and to their son, Omar S. Pound, Class of 1951, then to the latter’s widow upon his death in 2005. Omar Pound was a strong supporter of the arts on campus and donated hundreds of works by members of the Vorticist circle to the Emerson Gallery during his lifetime. Elizabeth Pound’s gift of this sculpture honored her late husband’s commitment to Hamilton College. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Collections

Additional Details

Alternate Titles Vase Statuette

Exhibition History 2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017 (cat. no. 58, illus.);

2006
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 16 - December 30, 2006 (no cat.);

2005
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Hamilton Collects: A Century of Curiosities: The Story of the Hamilton College Collection," September 29 - December 30, 2005 (unnumbered cat., illus., cover, 30);

1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Rebels & Romantics: Some British Moderns and Their Work," June 6 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no. 7, illus., 17) [exhibited as "The Waterbearer" 2005];

1914
London, England (Alpine Gallery). "Grafton Group," 1914 (no. 45) [exhibited as "Vase"].

Provenance 1989: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of Elizabeth Pound;
?: Elizabeth Pound, by gift or bequest of Omar S. Pound;
?: Omar S. Pound, by gift or bequest of Dorothy Shakespear;
?: Dorothy Shakespear, by gift or bequest of Ezra Pound;
1916: Ezra Pound, by purchase from Omega Workshops (for J. Quinn);
1913-1916: Omega Workshops, commissioned from the artist.

Markings None noted.

Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 146;

Rosella Blanding, "Henri Gaudier-Brzeska" in REBELS & ROMANTICS: SOME BRITISH MODERNS AND THEIR WORK (exhibition catalogue) (Clinton, NY: Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, 1992) p. 18, cat. no. 61, illus. 17.

Signature Not signed.

Inscribed None noted.