{"data":{"id":"933","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":933,"topgoose_id":1219,"tms_id":933,"display_name":"Elie Nadelman","sort_name":"Nadelman Elie","display_date":"1882–1946","begin_date":"1882","end_date":"1946","biography":"\u003cp\u003ePolish-born Elie Nadelman immigrated\nto the United States in 1914, having\nalready achieved fame in Paris as a sculptor\nof sleek, stylized figures and heads\ninspired by ancient Greek and Roman\nprecedents. In 1920, drawing on the popular\nentertainments and upper-class society\nhe encountered in America, he commenced\na group of figures in wood that included\ndancers, musicians, and circus performers.\n\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/7167\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTango\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e exemplifies Nadelman’s ongoing\nquest to join classical clarity and order with\nthe abstract values of modernism.\nComposed of tubular forms and fluid lines,\nthe pair of dancing figures reflects the\nartist’s intent to “employ no other line than\nthe curve, which possesses freshness\nand force. I compose these curves,”\nhe wrote, “so as to bring them in accord\nor in opposition to one another. In that\nway, I obtain the life of form, i.e., harmony.”\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition to such formal concerns,\n\u003cem\u003eTango\u003c/em\u003e registers Nadelman’s newfound\nengagement with American culture.\nThe fashionable subject—the Argentine\ndance that gained popularity in the\nUnited States on the eve of World War I—\nrepresented a departure from the\nartist’s more resolutely classical imagery.\nHis substitution of raw and painted\ncherrywood for the bronze or marble\nhe typically used also reflected his\nburgeoning interest in American folk art,\nwhich he avidly collected. The figures\nof \u003cem\u003eTango\u003c/em\u003e nevertheless lack the unbridled\nsensuality for which the dance was\nfamous, remaining faithful to Nadelman’s\nidealized aesthetic. With their discrete,\nelongated bodies, elegantly crossed\narms, and hands poised to touch, they are\nsuspended between formal rigor and\ngraceful ease, estrangement and freedom,\ntimelessness and contemporaneity.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500032388","wikidata_id":"Q1288595","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:13:29.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:01:22.336-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/933/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/933/exhibitions"}}}}