Georg Kolbe (1877 Waldheim - 1947 Berlin) "Japanese Woman" ("Crouching Japanese Woman")". Original title Bronze, dark patina, 1911, monogr., "GK" in ligature, foundry mark "H. NOACK BERLIN", 1911, probably cast in the 1950s (before 1972). Total edition of approx. 19 pieces. Wvz.-Nr. W 11.024. The "Japanerin" is one of Kolbe's first successful figures before he achieved his final breakthrough with the "Tänzerin" in 1912, and is also one of the most impressive sculptures of his early work. First shown in 1911 at the XXIII exhibition of the Berlin Secession, it was immediately very well received. The model was a half-Japanese woman who called herself "Taka-Taka" as a dancer and silent film actress. Kolbe's "Japanese Woman" combines the motif of a crouching nude, which was common at the time, with the depiction of an Asian dancer, which also fascinated many other artists. What made this "Japanese Woman" uniquely new, however, was the harmony, grace and sensuality combined in her with her dynamic, tense movement in space, her all-round appearance, which unites all the advantages of a perfect round sculpture. Emil Waldmann explicitly emphasised the sculpture in his early text on Kolbe as early as 1916: "The Japanese Woman is a work of the highest charm and finest feeling, chaste in emotion and intimate in its quiet movements. One of those works in which something new suddenly bursts upon an artist, where his eyes suddenly open and his work regains something of the enthusiasm of a springtime experienced with full consciousness." H. 46.5 cm. Until 1917 (or 1921), around 10 casts were made by the Noack foundry, published by the Galerie Paul Cassirer in Berlin; in the 1950s until 1972, around 9 further casts were made by Noack (the last in the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin). Early examples can be found in the Kunsthalle in Bremen, in the Staatl. Kunstsammlungen in Dresden and in the Kröller-Müller-Museum in Otterlo. References (a selection with illustrations of other casts): Cat. of the XXIII Exhibition of the Berlin Secession, Berlin 1911, p. 84, no. 1069; Ewald Bender: "Die Plastik auf der Winter-Ausstellung der Berliner Secession", in "Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration", vol. XXIX, Oct. 1911-March 1912, pp. 385-387 with illus.; "Kunst und Künstler", Vol. X, 1912, illus. p. 201; Emil Waldmann: "Georg Kolbe", in "Kunst und Künstler", Vol. XV, No. 1, Oct. 1916, pp. 3-18; Ursel Berger: "Georg Kolbe. Leben und Werk", Berlin, 1990, no. 13, p. 220; Julia Wallner: "Georg Kolbe. Selected Works". Cologne 2017, pp. 32-33 with illus. Provenance: Mrs Henry Ford II (Maria Christina Vettore Austin, 1929 - 2008). /V/Dark patinated bronze, 1911. Signed with monogram "GK". Foundry stamp "H. NOACK BERLIN". Conceived in 1911, cast probably in the 1950s and before 1972, from an edition of circa 9 (the complete edition was circa 19).