Bather III 1917–8, cast 1960s

Editor: Here we have Jacques Lipchitz's "Bather III," currently residing in the Tate. The plaster is stark, almost aggressively geometric. It feels like a puzzle box of the human form, doesn't it? What's your read on this piece? Curator: It's as if Lipchitz chiseled away not just stone, but the very idea of a bather! What remains is a dance of angles and planes. It's like cubism in three dimensions—a fragmented figure finding wholeness in its disruption, don't you think? Editor: It's definitely growing on me; the sharp lines feel less aggressive now, more... considered? Curator: Exactly! And the monochrome allows light and shadow to do the talking. What secrets do they whisper to you? Editor: They hint at a story, or maybe a feeling, that's just out of reach. Food for thought!