Acrobats
(Les Acrobates)
1916
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
118.5 × 82.0 cm irreg. (image) 120.6 × 84.5 cm (canvas)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through the NGV Foundation with the assistance of The Eugénie Crawford Bequest, Founder Benefactor, 2003
© Albert Gleizes/ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Gleizes is a key figure in the development of abstraction and Cubism. His Du Cubisme (Paris, 1912), co-written with fellow artist Jean Metzinger, contributed to the wider acceptance of Cubism, particularly the validity of depicting objects and forms simultaneously from various angles. Gleizes lived in New York from 1915–19, and the metropolis had a profound effect on his art. Gleizes then indicated figures with short- hand symbols and linear gestures, and reduced larger elements to prismatic shapes, rendered in fields of contrasting and highly textured colour. In 1916 Gleizes travelled to Barcelona, where he held his first solo exhibition, which included Acrobats.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: Albert Gleizes / Barcelon 1916
Accession Number
2003.664
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art Human Figures
Subjects (specific)
acrobats angular (shape) dots flat (form attributes) multi-coloured picture plane
Movements
Cubism