Wrestlers thumbnail 1
Wrestlers thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case EDUC, Shelf 9, Box C

Wrestlers

Print
ca. 1914 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is the only linocut produced by the sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. He was among the first to experiment with linoleum in place of wood as a relief printing technique. The medium was subsequently taken up for subjects that conveyed the vitality of the modern world. Gaudier-Brzeska was part of the Vorticist Movement, a British art movement which aimed to revitalise British art and reject the aesthetics of the Victorian age. He was one of the earliest abstract sculptors and his work also shows the influence of non-Western art.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleWrestlers (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Linocut
Brief description
Proof of lino-cut by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, entitled 'Wrestlers,' London, ca. 1914.
Physical description
Landscape format proof of a lino-cut depicting 2 wrestlers. Inscribed in ink 'H Brodzky, imp. 16/50.'
Dimensions
  • Height: 39.8cm
  • Width: 28.6cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
H Brodzky, imp. 16/50
Gallery label
These interlocking shapes capture the push-pull of wrestling, of which Gaudier-Brzeska was an avid fan. Encouraged to experiment with this medium by his friend, Horace Brodzky, he made this sole linocut, and it made a significant impact on British modernism. Brodzky took impressions from the linoblock after Gaudier-Brzeska's death and gave one of these along with the linoblock to the V&A.(August 2019)
Credit line
Given by Horace Brodzky
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is the only linocut produced by the sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. He was among the first to experiment with linoleum in place of wood as a relief printing technique. The medium was subsequently taken up for subjects that conveyed the vitality of the modern world. Gaudier-Brzeska was part of the Vorticist Movement, a British art movement which aimed to revitalise British art and reject the aesthetics of the Victorian age. He was one of the earliest abstract sculptors and his work also shows the influence of non-Western art.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings Accessions 1934 London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1935
Collection
Accession number
E.3210-1934

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Record createdMarch 13, 2003
Record URL
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