Alabaster
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
C Frank Stoop
Contemporary Art Society
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/henri-gaudier-brzeska-1143" aria-label="More by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Henri Gaudier-Brzeska</a>
Imp
Presented by C. Frank Stoop through the Contemporary Art Society 1930
abstraction
actions: postures and motions
adults
emotions, concepts and ideas
fertility
figure
figure
from recognisable sources
imp
magic and occultism
people
religion and belief
sensuality
sex and relationships
society
standing
universal concepts
<p>Gaudier-Brzeska much admired the non-European sculptures that he saw at the British Museum. The Imp echoes the proportions and features of such sculptures. The overtly phallic form reflects the commonly held view of the day that equated so-called ‘primitive’ cultures with energising sexuality.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
sculpture alabaster
12 May 2000 – 15 March 2006
2006-03-15
12 May 2000 – 15 March 2006
2006-03-15
2000-05-12
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2000-05-12
The Myth of the Primitive
Collection based display
15 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
15 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
2002-07-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-15
Henri Gaudier Brzeska
Collection based display
20 January 2007 – 16 June 2007
2007-06-16
20 January 2007 – 18 March 2007
2007-03-18
2007-01-20
Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge, UK)
http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/
30 March 2007 – 16 June 2007
2007-06-16
2007-03-30
Graves Art Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/coresite/html/graves.asp
2007-01-20
We the Moderns: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and his European Contemporaries
Loan-out
24 October 2009 – 24 January 2010
2010-01-24
24 October 2009 – 24 January 2010
2010-01-24
2009-10-24
Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK)
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
2009-10-24
WILD THING: Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier Brzeska and Eric Gill
Loan-out
30 September 2010 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
30 September 2010 – 9 January 2011
2011-01-09
2010-09-30
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, USA)
5 February 2011 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
2011-02-05
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy)
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/
22 June 2011 – 18 September 2011
2011-09-18
2011-06-22
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-09-30
Vorticism
Loan-out
30 September 2010 – 4 September 2011
2011-09-04
30 September 2010 – 2 January 2011
2011-01-02
2010-09-30
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, USA)
29 January 2011 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
2011-01-29
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy)
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/
14 June 2011 – 4 September 2011
2011-09-04
2011-06-14
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-09-30
The Vorticists: Manifesto for a Modern World
Exhibition
16 March 2019 – 2 June 2019
2019-06-02
16 March 2019 – 2 June 2019
2019-06-02
2019-03-16
Royal West of England Academy (Bristol, UK)
2019-03-16
Gaudier-Brzeska: Disputing the Earth
Loan-out
The Imp
object: 406 × 89 × 83 mm
Permanently attached to MDF(paintable) plinth base 15x210x255 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999963" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">C. Frank Stoop</a> through the <a href="/search?gid=999999975" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Contemporary Art Society</a> 1930
<p>Gaudier-Brzeska much admired the non-European <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>sculptures</span></a> that he saw at the British Museum. The Imp echoes the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/proportion" title="Glossary definition for 'Proportion'"><span>proportions</span></a> and features of such sculptures. The overtly phallic form reflects the commonly held view of the day that equated so-called ‘<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/primitivism" title="Glossary definition for 'Primitivism'"><span>primitive</span></a>’ cultures with energising sexuality.</p>

Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N04516</b> THE IMP <i>c.</i> 1914
<br/> 
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Veined alabaster, 16×3 1/2×3 1/4 (40·5×9×8·5), including base; the work has been broken at the base and restored.
<br/>Presented by C. Frank Stoop through the Contemporary Art Society 1930.
<br/><i>Coll:</i> As for No.4514.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> London Group, March 1915 (96), as ‘Statuette in Alabaster’; Leicester Galleries, May–June 1918 (28); Temple Newsam, Leeds, June–August 1943 (77); Arts Council, 1956–7 (27).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> Pound, 1916, p.161, No.28, pl.18; Ede, 1930, p.205, repr. pl.45.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> E. H. Ramsden, <i>Twentieth Century Sculpture</i>, 1949, pl.31, as <i>c.</i> 1912; Pound, 1957, p.21.</p>
<p>According to Ede and the Leicester Galleries catalogue this was carved in 1914. Pound describes it as a ‘late work, grotesque’.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-20T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction actions: postures and motions adults emotions, concepts and ideas fertility figure figure from recognisable sources imp magic and occultism people religion and belief sensuality sex and relationships society standing universal concepts