Henry Moore and Jacques Lipchitz on Display at Four Seasons Centre

Canadian Opera Company patrons will notice two additions to the Four Seasons Centre when they come to the opera this winter. This week, the COC welcomed two new sculptures to the opera house, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ontario: a Henry Moore sculpture, placed at the top of the Grand Staircase, and a Jacques Lipchitz bronze, on display in the Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge. While the AGO has loaned the COC several pieces from its collection over the years for display at the Four Seasons Centre, this particular occasion marks the first time the AGO has loaned the opera company two pieces concurrently.
 
An English sculptor and artist, Henry Moore is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures, which are located around the world as public works of art. Titled Upright Motive No. 5, the Moore bronze sculpture is from 1955-1956 and is part of a series of maquettes developed out of Moore’s visit to the Olivetti building in Milan. He made the trip in consideration of a request for a commissioned sculpture for the building and in visiting the site was inspired by a lone Lombardy poplar. Although the commissioning project was never realized, the maquettes became the impetus for the upright motive series.
 
Jacques Lipchitz was a Russian-born French sculptor whose style was based on the principles of cubism. He was widely considered to be an important and innovative figure in the formulation of nonrepresentational, abstract sculpture during the early 20th century. On display at the Four Seasons Centre is Lipchitz’s 1917 bronze sculpture Bather III. His method was working towards a recognizable subject from imagined, abstract forms. In Bather III, he built a figure from geometric shapes that are recognizable anatomical parts that help the viewer identify the subject as a bathing female: the head is round, an arc near the centre of the figure indicates a navel, three short, diagonal lines on the notched area that protrudes from the centre of the figure indicate fingers, and figure's legs are crossed. The overall composition seems to be governed by unstable, jostling diagonals that imply dynamism and movement.

---

Photo credit: COC Staff