Salomé with the Head of John the Baptist

ca. 1930

American, born Lithuania, 1899-1973

In its formal sophistication, highly polished surface, and breathtakingly schematized figure, Lovet-Lorski’s elegant interpretation of the biblical femme fatale Salome is typical of the Art Deco style that became fashionable worldwide in the 1920s and 1930s. A hybrid of realism and abstraction, Art Deco was a popularization of modernism and a cipher for ideas and trends designed both to herald the future and to be familiar, straightforward, and recognizable. If high modernism was considered the domain of an elitist avant-garde, Art Deco made modernism accessible to the masses. Like many Art Deco artists, Lovet-Lorski turned to ancient sculpture and the art of what he considered to be exotic cultures for inspiration—he was drawn to their narrative power and expression in archaic form.

Bronze on self base

15 1/2 x 28 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (39.37 x 72.39 x 26.67 cm)

Gift of Mrs. John C. Atwood, Jr.

34.145

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Museum: Mixed Metaphors, Fred Wilson, Jan. 28 - June 13, 1993. Text by Patterson Sims. No cat. no., reproduced p. 20.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, From New York to Seattle: Case Studies in American Abstraction and Realism, Jan. 15, 2020 - June 5, 2022 [on view Jan. 15, 2020 - May 9, 2021].

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