Chiparus Jumper Hurdle Male 1930's Art Deco Sculpture

Fine Chiparus art deco sculpture, patinated metal figure of a hurdler. The figure with outstretched arms jumps above, as he clears the hurdle beneath. Signed D.H. Chiparus upon the naturalistic ground, with foundry seal upon back edge. Nice details of runners uniform, shoes with spikes and natural posture associated with the sport.

Demetre H. Chiparus was born in Romania in 1886 and then traveled to Paris before World War I to become more involved with his artwork. He attended school in Italy and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and he exhibited at the Salon in 1914. Chiparus was particularly adept in the technique of chryselephantine, the combination of bronze and ivory to produce dramatic, stylized sculpture. He produced most of his renowned works between 1914 and 1933. Paris was an exciting place in the years leading up to World War II, when art deco style and swinging good times were in vogue just as in the United States. His later works in the 1920′s were influenced by his interest  in Egypt, after the excavation of the Pharoah Tutankhmen’s tomb. Some of his most exciting works are dancers taken from the Russian Ballet, French theatre, and early motion pictures. Dancers were captured in movement, dressed in high Art Deco style and long and lean in appearance.