‘Once the youngest of the Cubists … today he is a patriarch of modern sculpture, who delights in collecting the statues and artefacts of man’s ancient past.’ (Karsh)

Lipchitz was born in what is now Lithuania. He moved to Paris in 1909 and studied sculpture and his work from this time reflects the influence of Rodin. He met Picasso and from 1913 his work, with overlapping and interacting planes, began to show the impact of Cubism. In the 1930s he drew on the Surrealist and Expressionist movements and he began exploring violent and mythological themes in his sculpture. By the time he moved to the United States in 1941 (becoming an American citizen in 1957) he was recognised internationally as a leading modernist sculptor. This portrait was made just three years before his death.