QUICK FACTS
Jack Johnson, the first African American to Win the World Heavyweight Championship modeled for Arthur Lee’s ‘The Ethiopian’ which won the gold medal in 1915 at the Panama – Pacific International Exposition after showing in 1913 in New York at the Armory Show. This was Lee’s ideal of a ‘living form’ conveying energy and strength. This was also his first sculpture.
Born: Trondheim, Norway 1881
Passed: Newtown, Connecticut 1961
Exhibit(s)/ Museums:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Whitney Museum
Valentine Museum
Pioneer Woman Museum
– Jack Johnson, the first African American to Win the World Heavyweight Championship modeled for Arthur Lee’s ‘The Ethiopian’ Which won the gold medal in 1915 at the Panama – Pacific International Exposition after showing in 1913 in New York at the Armory Show. This was Lee’s ideal of a ‘living form’ conveying energy and strength. This was also his first sculpture.
– Instructor in Drawing at the Art Students League of New York in NYC
– “Rhythm,” was modeled after Tony Sansone, (1905–87) was an Italian-American bodybuilder and model.
– “Volupte”, one of Arthur Lee’s most famous works, was modeled after Gigi Bartholome, a French woman he met in a Parisian cafe in 1915. He saw her in the cafe, decided she had the perfect body and approached her about posing for him. Initially reluctant and skeptical, she eventually agreed to pose, and over a period of time in 1915-1916, he created Volupte. He often said that just as he was finishing the torso, Gigi ran off with a Polish count! His private and personal collection included different sizes of Volupte.