La Grande Musicienne 1937

Henri Laurens made "La Grande Musicienne," sometime in the twentieth century, we don't know exactly when. It looks like bronze. The first thing I notice is the way Laurens has twisted and turned the form. It’s all curves, almost as if he’s trying to make a solid object feel like it’s moving. And the surface! Up close, it’s rough and textured, you can imagine him working and reworking the clay before it was cast. There is a real sense of the hand. Look at how the light catches those curves, creating shadows that deepen the sense of volume. I like how it calls to mind the work of Henry Moore, who also explored the human form in abstract ways. Both artists seemed fascinated by the tension between mass and space. Neither of them tell you what to think, or even what to see. They make it a dialogue, a real conversation. Which, I think, is what art is all about.