Page 314 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Studies: human

two sorts of fantasy-woman associated with reading: the chaste
bookworm he admired (see nos. 86 and 104, and the attitudes
expressed and reported in the preceding text sections), and the
sexy heroine of fiction he decried. Nudity here is almost
accidental, the figure reduced to a limp cartoon—quite
different from the robust and voluptuous physiques discussed
above. One of the pages to which the book is opened has a
corner folded back; although that may be the reader’s way of
marking her place, similar bent surfaces in AR’s work signify
the outdoors by demonstrating the effect of a breeze.

32 Seated woman
Stone
8.5” x 3.5”

Beyond those pieces in which AR treated the human anatomy as
the subject itself, several other works may also be considered
studies of people without a specific personal or cultural identity—
despite their clothing. These carvings lie on the boundary between
studies and genre pieces, but their sociological matrix is minimal
to the point of irrelevance. An (assumedly) early example of this
type is a rudimentary female imprisoned in a block-like chair; AR
was able to do much more with this motif in wood (see nos. 86
and 104). The simple geometry of the piece may indicate the
sculptor’s tentativeness in approaching a difficult medium. A
similar piece (and perhaps carved from the same sort of stone) is
the cat (no. 165).

88 Two women
Stone
12” x 4.5”

This small slab of marble is carved on both sides, perhaps
indicating its use as practice material. The two crudely-rendered
female figures reinforce this conclusion: they are subjects
found in art books rather than the sculptor’s imagination. One
is the profile of a nude, standing in wavy lines probably

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