Harlequin with Mandoline in Oval

myminifactory

Towards the end of 1922, Albert C. Barnes introduced Jacques Lipchitz to a new opportunity when he commissioned him to create five stone reliefs for his home's outer walls in Marion, Pennsylvania. In 1923, Lipchitz worked on high reliefs and clay designs that formed the core group, including Harlequin with Mandolin in Oval, an original plaster model showcased at Jeanne Bucher's Paris exhibition in 1930. The commission allowed the artist to revisit a composition style involving musical instruments reminiscent of his earliest work from 1918 to 1919, when he was deeply involved in Cubism. Lipchitz adapted the piece's composition to fit its monument format, incorporating a point-of-view perspective based on its intended location high up on the wall. He combined human figures and musical instruments, treating them as objects, emphasized light and shadow contrasts, and integrated curved forms into a balanced composition that followed objective rules of proportion. The piece showcased Lipchitz's academic style, characteristic of Cubism, with an oval shape referencing one of its most used formats: a frame negating the imposition of angles in a picture.