Page 29 - Studio International - December 1970

1 3
Large Maternity 1930/33 Small Head with Triangle 1934/36
Iron Iron
9 in. high
2
Gothic Man 1935 Coll: Hans Hartung, Paris
Iron
221 in. high
Coll : Hans Hartung, Paris

comes'—i.e. in varieties of bar or sheet—is cent (33) in thinner steel the features are drawn
turned, in the sculptor's hands, to sheer with a maximum of economy by cutting and
folding back from the plane. If one considers
invention. 2
The entwined factors of poverty and his per- the curled edges and nuances of hammered
sonal lack of ambition make Gonzalez essen- shape in The Foot, the more complex cutting
tially an explorer, a beginner, the provider of and folding (though still in the single plane)
a multitude of clues and leads for others. In of the Head (12), the interlocking positive and
this he resembles Paul Klee, though Klee's negative of the Mask, Light and Shade (46), the
comparative confidence and sophistication beautifully subtle construction of angled and
reflect the incomparably greater resources of displaced, curved, bent and flat surfaces in
the painting tradition. Like Klee, Gonzalez is Head in Thought (28), the creation of total dark-
a miniaturist; his power lies in compression. ness within a continuous surface by the almost
Those works of Gonzalez that seem to me complete sealing off of the void within the
among his most satisfying and original are very Tunnel Head (50), one begins to get an idea of
small indeed—the group of heads originally the expressive range Gonzalez created with
executed in silver in the early 30s, of which the simple articulation of surface by the
there was one example in the Tate exhibition separate action of tools. Conventional draw-
(66). There is a clarity, an order and an inven- ing, in the sense of contouring, is counter-
tion about these sculptures that wholly sub- pointed by drawing as folding, rolling and
verts their physical size. In general, the larger fixing.
Gonzalez's sculptures become, the more fussy Unfortunately, the simple rationality of most
and cluttered they tend to be, especially of the sheet-steel pieces is obscured by a kind
where different orders (i.e. linear, flat, solid) of rustic, 'hand-made' insistence on texture.
of component are in combination. Here Gonzalez was presumably looking for an
Gonzalez also recalls Klee in the nature of his `expressive' surface equivalent to the expres-
expression : a rational, even playful structure sive imagery just mentioned; and also attemp-
overlaying a violent and tormented expres- ting to give iron the richness and density
sionism. In the case of Gonzalez, it is a good commonly associated with bronze.
deal nearer the surface; especially in the later It is in the working, often over-working, of
30s, it breaks through in such gruesome parts that Gonzalez's own metal constructions
pieces as La Main aux Piquants (not in the are distinct from those on which he collabo-
exhibition). Throughout the last twelve years rated with Picasso, and from the sculpture of
of Gonzalez's life also recur the almost natura- his major successor, David Smith. Picasso's
listic heads, masks and figures of the Mont- metal constructions are unified by reference
serrat and Crying Montserrat (76) series. These to the human image, and the parts left un-
are not rhetorical; they rather reflect Gon- modulated save as they contribute to this
zalez's continuing lack of confidence in the effect; and Smith was to discover an abstract
abstract and schematic mode he had evolved strength and variety in the given forms both of
to sustain the direct expression of powerful machine parts and steel from stock. By con-
feeling. Compared with the authority and trast Gonzalez is very much the smith, work-
vigour of, for example, the Gothic Man (56), ing on each part before and after assembly;
we can now see how mistaken Gonzalez was seeking and making parts for their affinity
in his estimation of the power of his abstract rather than contrast; breaking down their
style as an expressive vehicle. separateness in the interests of an expressive
A number of heads originally carved in stone, unity. Both the strong sign references to ele-
together with the early repoussé masks in ments of the figure and the characteristic
copper and bronze, confirm that what was forms of found parts, which are Picasso's stock
and remained central to Gonzalez's art was his in trade, are to be found in Gonzalez, but one
conception of sculpture as surface. If the stone has to look hard for them. His own signs,
carvings reveal the failings of this approach in notably that for hair, are far more generalised
an inappropriate material, a marvellous series and ambiguous than Picasso's, acting more as
of constructions in sheet steel shows the range relief or detail than specific reference and
and control of Gonzalez's most personal mode. arriving naturally by extension of the making
The Woman with Amphora (48) (recalling a later process, the use of a particular tool. One can
treatment by Matisse of the same theme) is a find unmodified elements of steel 'as it comes',
simply contoured cut-out in 3/16 in. steel, i.e. the strips of T-section in The Three Folds
daringly flat, formed only by the action of the (41), the nails in the Cactus-Men (88 and 89).
saw through metal; in the Mask of an Adoles- But the cylinders, cones and hemispheres that