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Lot Essay
We thank the Fondation Arp, Clamart, for their help cataloguing this work.
“Any work of art that is not rooted in myth and poetry”—Jean Arp declared—“or that does not partake of the depth and essence of the universe is merely a ghost” (quoted in “The Inner Language,” M. Jean, ed., Jean Arp, Collected French Writings, London, 1974, p. 292).
Conceived during the final decade of the artist’s half-century-long career, Déméter is a consummation of his dedication to the plastic representation of biomorphic and human form. Arp expresses in his sculpture the sensual, fruitful essence of the eternal feminine, interpreted through an evocation of the goddess of fertility and agriculture in Greek mythology, known as Ceres to the Romans. Worshipped as a primal earth-mother, Demeter held sway over the natural cycles of birth, growth, and regeneration; her powers and beneficence were celebrated in festivals at harvest time throughout the ancient world.
Arp conceived his vision of Demeter in rounded maternal forms; the swelling volumes in her furrow-like, hill and vale lap suggest abundant earthly fertility. The goddess’s protective devotion to her children was preserved in myth. After Hades, god of the underworld, had abducted and hidden away her daughter Persephone, Demeter wandered the world for a year, seeking the girl—the goddess’s sorrow caused crops to languish and fail. Mighty Zeus interceded and obtained Persephone’s release; however, because she had partaken of pomegranate seeds, the food of the dead, Hades was permitted to reclaim her for three months each year. During this time, while Demeter lamented her daughter’s absence, the earth turned barren and cold. Persephone’s re-emergence each spring announced the renewal of the yearly growth cycle. Ancient agrarian cultures thus understood the procession of the seasons.
Themes of “genesis, birth, and blossoming” (ibid.) held special significance for Arp in 1960. He had recently married his longtime friend and collaborator Marguerite Hagenbach. She had become the artist’s living, abiding Demeter, the earth and fertility goddess also turned muse, who nurtured and sustained his art.
Other casts of the present sculpture are in The Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki and Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund. Plaster versions of this sculpture are in The Detroit Institute of Arts; Musée national d'art moderne, Paris and Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
“Any work of art that is not rooted in myth and poetry”—Jean Arp declared—“or that does not partake of the depth and essence of the universe is merely a ghost” (quoted in “The Inner Language,” M. Jean, ed., Jean Arp, Collected French Writings, London, 1974, p. 292).
Conceived during the final decade of the artist’s half-century-long career, Déméter is a consummation of his dedication to the plastic representation of biomorphic and human form. Arp expresses in his sculpture the sensual, fruitful essence of the eternal feminine, interpreted through an evocation of the goddess of fertility and agriculture in Greek mythology, known as Ceres to the Romans. Worshipped as a primal earth-mother, Demeter held sway over the natural cycles of birth, growth, and regeneration; her powers and beneficence were celebrated in festivals at harvest time throughout the ancient world.
Arp conceived his vision of Demeter in rounded maternal forms; the swelling volumes in her furrow-like, hill and vale lap suggest abundant earthly fertility. The goddess’s protective devotion to her children was preserved in myth. After Hades, god of the underworld, had abducted and hidden away her daughter Persephone, Demeter wandered the world for a year, seeking the girl—the goddess’s sorrow caused crops to languish and fail. Mighty Zeus interceded and obtained Persephone’s release; however, because she had partaken of pomegranate seeds, the food of the dead, Hades was permitted to reclaim her for three months each year. During this time, while Demeter lamented her daughter’s absence, the earth turned barren and cold. Persephone’s re-emergence each spring announced the renewal of the yearly growth cycle. Ancient agrarian cultures thus understood the procession of the seasons.
Themes of “genesis, birth, and blossoming” (ibid.) held special significance for Arp in 1960. He had recently married his longtime friend and collaborator Marguerite Hagenbach. She had become the artist’s living, abiding Demeter, the earth and fertility goddess also turned muse, who nurtured and sustained his art.
Other casts of the present sculpture are in The Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki and Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund. Plaster versions of this sculpture are in The Detroit Institute of Arts; Musée national d'art moderne, Paris and Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp.