Page 341 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Genre: modern

he had seen at the opera in New York City (see his narrative).
Perhaps the conductor’s intellectual authority as well as his
public prominence made him an attractive subject for the
sculptor: why else carve two versions? In no. 78, the maestro,
wearing tails and bow tie, stands on a square tiered podium-like
base. He has no beard, but may have a barely-discernible
mustache; could he be Arturo Toscanini? AR evidently thought
enough of the piece to date it, an unusual event.

No. 113 is not as impressive. The artist was probably inspired
by the branching twigs on a section of tree limb to carve a
human figure with arms outstretched. Those human limbs are
way out of proportion, almost grotesquely long—at some point
in the past they broke off and were glued back on. The rest of
the maestro is unremarkable, his cutaway tails and beardless
face sketchily rendered, the cylindrical base unaltered into a
podium.

123 Running man
Wood
18” x 7”

Fire appears to be the off-stage motivation for this character:
he is running either to a conflagration or away from it. The
beardless (therefore young) man is barefoot, shirtless and
holding the front flaps of his trousers together in one hand. In
his other is a satchel, from which his shoes protrude. Thus the
alternative interpretations: the man may be fleeing a fire,
roused from bed; or he may be a fireman, hastening to the
engine. The figure is free-standing—or would be, if the soles of
the feet were not rounded; a hole in the seat of the trousers
indicates AR originally supported the piece with an armature
(no longer extant, nor is a base). The subject is a curious one,
bearing a certain resemblance to Archimedes running from the
bath (no. 65): men in embarrassed or embarrassing situations
thanks to unintentional public nudity. Despite the number of
nude women AR carved, none are in such poses of social
vulnerability.
337