Henri LaurensHead of a Boxer 1920, cast 1921

Head of a Boxer was one of a number of sculptural reliefs Laurens made in Paris between 1919 and the mid-1920s. The practice of carving directly was familiar to him from the years he had spent working for a sculptor of building ornaments between 1899 and 1906. However, the shallow relief of such terracotta works as Head of a Boxer owes more to the papiers collés (paper collages) he had made between 1914 and 1919 (see Tate T06806). The way in which paint has been applied - in geometric areas with no tonal gradation - emphasises the similarly between these shallow planes and the cut-out and superimposed elements of a collage. The effects of light and shade falling across the different levels of the surface creates an additional play between flatness and volume… (read more)