Lot 100: IRINA CODREANU

STUDY OF A NUDE
signed and dated: I.CODREANO 1939, stamped: CIRE PERDUE A.VALSUANI and numbered 67 in black ink on the underside

55.5cm., 21 7/8 in.

bronze, dark brown patina

Born in Bucharest, Irina Codreanu moved to France in 1919 and became part of the coterie of Eastern Europeans based in Paris. She was a student of Émile-Antoine Bourdelle and Constantin Brancusi. Codreanu claimed Brancusi 'liked to be surrounded by beautiful women' in the studio but had 'a timid, respectful attitude towards feminine beauty, which he always idealized.'

Several of Codreanu's works are stylistically linked to Brancusi. The stylized and polished planar elements of her busts and bronze heads respond to Brancussi's simplified organic forms. However, the present work's weighty presence and dappled surface treatment betray the teaching of Bourdelle and convey Codreanu's own distinctive style. The execution of the hair and the ample nature of the feminine form are particularly striking.

Codreanu exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries and was a member of the Salon d'Automne. Codreanu has important works in the collections of the Musée des Années Trente in Boulogne, the Pina in Bucharest, and the Musée d'Orsay.

RELATED LITERATURE
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des Peintres Sculpteurs Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Paris, 1999, p.748; I. Jianou, Constantin Brancusi, London, 1963, pp. 52-3