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José de Creeft (1884-1982) was a Spanish-born American artist, sculptor, and teacher known for modern sculpture in stone, metal, and wood, particularly figural works of women. His 16 ft bronze ''Alice In Wonderland'' climbing sculpture in Central Park is well known to both adults and children in New York City. He was an early adopter, and prominent exponent of the direct carving approach to sculpture. He also developed the technique of lead chasing, and was among the very first to create modern sculpture from found objects. He taught at Black Mountain College, the Art Students League of New York, and the New School for Social Research. His works are in the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and many other public and private collections. ==Early life== José de Creeft was born in Guadalajara, Spain, on November 27, 1884 to Mariano de Creeft y Masdeu and Rosa Champane y Ortiz. Four years later the family moved to Barcelona. In 1890, when his father died leaving the family destitute, de Creeft, his mother and two sisters moved in with an aunt. At six years of age, de Creeft took his first job earning pennies by carrying stone and sand at the construction site of La Sagrada Familia, designed and built by the architect Antonio Gaudi. In 1895, de Creeft began modeling religious figures in clay to sell at the Festival Santa Lucia, Barcelona, which he fired at home in his kiln and sold near the steps of the Cathedral of Barcelona. Two years later he began his first apprenticeship with the craftsman and imagier, Barnadas who carved religious figures in wood. A year later, he was apprenticed at the Artistic Foundry of Masriera & Campins, under the sculptor Mariano Benlliure, followed by studies with Manolo Hugo. In 1900, de Creeft moved to Madrid and studied in the workshop of Don Augustin Querol Subirats, Official Sculptor of Spain. This was de Creeft’s first experience with stone carving. He also studied drawing with Rafael Hidalgo and Gutierrez de Caviedes, and sculpture with Ignacio Zuloaga. The following year he worked as a draftsman for the Madrid Administration of Bridges and Roads, where he learned perspective and precision drawing. In 1902, he opened his first studio with a friend on Calle Españoletto. At this time he observed the art work of a group of Eskimos (Inuit) in El Retiro Park which had a profound impact on his developing aesthetic. “The Eskimos impressed me with their simplicity and their directness of expression. With tiny pieces of ivory they made monumental sculptures that had strength, power and serenity, though they were less than hand-sized.” A year later, his first exhibition of portraits of children in clay and plaster was held at El Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. In 1905, he moved to Paris. Upon the recommendation of Ignacio Zuloaga, and with the concurrence of Rodin, he entered the Académie Julien where he studied for two years. He opened his first studio at 14 rue Chamberry before establishing a second studio at the Bateau Lavoir in Montmartre, where he interacted with Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Manolo, and Pablo Gargallo, who also had studios there. During this period, de Creeft befriended the artist Mateo Hernandez. De Creeft was awarded the Grand Prix in the 1906 Concours de Sculpture exhibition at the Académie Julien for his piece in clay, "Torso," which was the first recognition he had ever received for his work. After a time in Spain, he returned to Paris in 1909, where he exhibited for the first time at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français, showing a bronze head of a man and a plaster bust of a child. From 1909-1928 he exhibited periodically at the Société des Artistes Français, Société d’Encouragement Aux Artes, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Salon d’Automne, Salon des Artes, Salon des Tuileries, Salon des Artes Indépendents, Exposición de Bellas Artes, Salon des Humoristes, and the Exposición de Artes Decorativas y Industriales Modernas. From 1911-14 he was employed at the workshop of La Maison Greber, learning traditional techniques of reproducing sculpture in stone with pointing machines known as mise aux point. In 1915, he eschewed the purely classical methods of sculpture which consisted of copying from plaster models and enlarging with a pointing machine. He began using the technique of taille direct, or direct carving. He referred to this method of carving as “pure sculpture.” Inspired by modernism, de Creeft destroyed all his previous casts, molds, and clay pieces. When he had destroyed all but two pieces, his friend Julio de Diego came to visit him. They took the remaining two sculptures outside to the traffic circle surrounding the Arc de Triomphe and placed bets on which car would hit which sculpture. De Creeft completed "Barbare," his first direct sculpture in wood in 1915. The next year he produced a red granite head, his first in stone, and displayed it at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He also completed his first portrait carved directly from life, "Enigma," in Black Belgium Marble. The following year he taught his first group of private students from Mexico and South America. At the conclusion of World War I, there was a demand for artistic tributes to the heroes of the war, and in 1918, he was awarded a commission to carve a seven-foot granite war memorial of a French Infantryman. This sculpture, "Le Poilu" in Saugues (Puy-de-Dome), stands on a ten-foot base in the town square.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Jose de Creeft )〕 He completed this work in 1921, and as a result was elected Officier de I’Instruction Publique, Paris. This led to his execution of twenty-one drawings for “Twenty-one Meditations,” a book by Albert Rid. In 1924, de Creeft developed the process of chased lead, the first of several original techniques he employed. After casting the large, rough forms, he hammered, carved and incised the lead with typical chasing tools used in foundries for finishing work. Examples of sculptures made with this technique included "Portrait of César Vallejo" and "Orchidia." Both works, made in 1924, featured solid forms with open spaces. At that time no other artists attempted to use this technique. In 1925, de Creeft developed another new technique, now known as found object, or assemblage art, when he was asked to create a piece for the Gran Bal Español by the world famous flamenco dancer Vicente Escudero. At the time, de Creeft was bedridden with fever and flu. Upon being told the piece must be ready in days, de Creeft dismantled his stove to create "Le Picador," an eight-foot figure on horseback. Adding used tire tubes to depict the horse’s intestines protruding from its belly, de Creeft paraded his piece through the streets of Paris to great acclaim and the event received worldwide press coverage. It was the first time an artist turned scrap metal into sculpture. The inspiration for this piece came from his youth, when de Creeft witnessed the mistreatment of horses. A relative took him behind the scenes at the bullfight arena where he saw them putting the intestines back in the horses, sewing them up with straw and sending them back to the bullfight. "Le Picador" was displayed at the Société des Artistes Independants the following year. It was at that time he met Alexander Calder, who became his student in direct carving. Upon seeing Calder's mechanical toys, de Creeft encouraged him to display them. Calder put his Circus together for the first time in de Creeft’s studio where he showed it to other artists. Later, Calder and de Creeft became lifelong friends after de Creeft and his family moved to the United States. In 1927, de Creeft moved to Mallorca, Spain, when he was commissioned by the painter, Roberto Ramonge to create sculptures for his fourteenth-century fortress, La Fortaleza. Granted complete artistic freedom, he undertook the work with such vigor and enthusiasm that in eighteen months he carved more than two hundred pieces in stone. While maintaining his residence in Mallorca he exhibited in Paris, and visited there periodically during the following year. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jose de Creeft」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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