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Details
- Alternative title
- le Guitariste
- Date
- 1919
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil and sand on canvas
- Dimensions
- 129.5 x 81.3 cm stretcher; 156.5 x 107.5 x 7.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l., black paint "Hayden/ 1919". Signed and dated u.l. verso, black paint "Henri Hayden/ IV - 1919..."
- Credit
- Purchased 1958
- Location
- South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries
- Accession number
- 9808
- Copyright
- © Estate of Henri Hayden/ADAGP. Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Henri Hayden
Works in the collection
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About
The Polish-born Henri Hayden arrived in Paris in 1907 and soon made the acquaintance of many School of Paris artists, including Jacques Lipchitz and Juan Gris. His early interest in Paul Cézanne’s dismantling of naturalism developed in the years up to the early 1920s into a firm commitment to cubism. 'The guitarist' is a fine example of the second phase of cubism, known as ‘synthetic cubism’, which features flat, geometrically simplified forms and textured collage surfaces.
This painting is one of a pair of musician portraits – the second work features a clarinettist. A committed amateur musician and friend of composer Erik Satie, Hayden here instils a musical sense of blending to his geometry, akin to the fragmented layering of a score to create a symphonic whole.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Purchases and Acquisitions for 1958, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 11 Feb 1959–08 Mar 1959
French art from Australian collections, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, Jun 1959–Jul 1959
Paintings by European masters: Adelaide Festival of Arts 1960, National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 12 Mar 1960–26 Mar 1960
Matisse and the moderns, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Apr 2015–25 Oct 2015
20th-Century galleries Rehang (Ground Level), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 46 (colour illus.).
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European Masters', The Adelaide Festival of Arts 1960: Souvenir catalogue of special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia, 'Paintings, Adelaide, 1960. cat. no. 4
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Queensland Art Gallery, French art from Australian collections, Brisbane, 1959. cat.no 46
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Provenance
The provenance of this work is under review and records will be updated as new details become available. The Gallery welcomes any information. Contact provenance@ag.nsw.gov.au
Léonce Rosenberg, Paris/France
Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from Arthur Tooth & Sons 1958