Lipchitz, Jacques, << LIHP shihts, zhahk >> (1891-1973), was a sculptor whose work represents many of the major movements in modern sculpture. He studied sculpture in Paris, and his early work shows the influence of French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Lipchitz met Pablo Picasso and, beginning in 1913, his sculpture reflects the style of cubism, with its overlapping, interacting planes. His forms gradually became more flexible, and he began creating what he called transparent sculpture. This style emphasized form distorted by movement and external and internal forces that seem to be pulling in opposite directions. By the 1930’s, Lipchitz had abandoned cubism. He turned to expressionism and surrealism, with its emphasis on the subconscious. More violent, sometimes mythological themes replaced the cubist symbols in his work.
Lipchitz was born on Aug. 22, 1891, in what is now Lithuania. He studied and worked in Paris from 1909 to 1941, then moved to the United States to escape the Nazis. He became a U.S. citizen in 1957. He died on May 26, 1973.
