Paul Manship (1885-1966)

'Playfulness'

Details

Paul Manship (1885-1966)
'Playfulness'
inscribed '(c) PAUL MANSHIP/ROMA 1912' (on the base)--stamped 'ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-' (along the base)
bronze with brown patina
12¾ in. (32.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, Massachusetts.

Literature

P. Virty, Paul Manship: Sculpteur Américain, Paris, 1927, p. 35, pl. 5, another example illustrated.
E. Murtha, Paul Manship, New York, 1957, pp. 11, 150, no. 21, pl. 6, another example illustrated.
Minnesota Museum of Art, Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America, exhibition catalogue, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1985, pp. 24-25, no. 13, another example illustrated.
J. Manship, Paul Manship, New York, 1989, pp. 37, 40, 45, 48, 52-53, pl. 28, another example illustrated.
H. Rand, Paul Manship, Washington, D.C., 1989, pp. 29, 32-33, fig. 20, another example illustrated.
S. Rather, Archaism, Modernism, and the Art of Paul Manship, Austin, Texas, 1993, pp. 85, 92-93, fig. 49, another example illustrated.

Lot Essay

Paul Manship conceived 'Playfulness' during his stay in Rome in 1912. Inspired by the Greek and Etruscan sculpture which he was exposed to at this time, he employed archaic stylizations such as the almond shaped eyes, the tightly woven hair and flowing drapery. The present sculpture is one of an edition of 15. Other examples are in the collections of the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

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