Paul Manship American, 1885-1966
Flight of Night, 1916
Bronze, dark brown patina
17¾ x 14½ x 4⅜ inches
45.1 x 36.8 x 11.1 cm
45.1 x 36.8 x 11.1 cm
Edition of 20
Signed on rear of bronze sphere: PAUL. MANSHIP © 1916; inscribed with the founder's mark near bottom of sphere: ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N.Y.
The young Manship studied in Rome until 1912, building a repertoire of images and forms from a deep appreciation for antiquity. When he returned to the United States in 1912,...
The young Manship studied in Rome until 1912, building a repertoire of images and forms from a deep appreciation for antiquity. When he returned to the United States in 1912, his work was greeted with critical and commercial enthusiasm. At his first show at the Architectural League in New York, the exhibition of 96 bronzes sold out. The following year he showed ten works at the National Academy of Design in New York, Kenyon Cox noted that Manship's sculptures "give one some clear notion of a personality still in the making but already full of originality and charm" [as quoted in Harry Rand, Paul Manship (1989) p. 25]. His rapid ascent to prominence in American sculpture fueled a long and successful career.
Gloria Kittleson wrote of the work:
Often considered one of Manship's most elegant works, and an early expression of his mature style, Flight of Night evokes classical Greek and East Indian sources. The allegorical figure of night floats in space over the universe, suggesting ubiquity, and her upraised arms round her head echo the globe over which she hovers. Her clearly delineated form suggests the crescent shape of the moon; the crescent moon was the ancient attribute of the virgin. Flight looks back over her shoulder, while her body moves forward with speed to make way for the oncoming day; her form is weighted toward the left, heightening the sense of movement [Gloria Kittleson, Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America (1985), p. 71].
According to Edwin Murtha, twenty bronzes were cast from this model, while a larger version was cast in an edition of six in 1918.
Gloria Kittleson wrote of the work:
Often considered one of Manship's most elegant works, and an early expression of his mature style, Flight of Night evokes classical Greek and East Indian sources. The allegorical figure of night floats in space over the universe, suggesting ubiquity, and her upraised arms round her head echo the globe over which she hovers. Her clearly delineated form suggests the crescent shape of the moon; the crescent moon was the ancient attribute of the virgin. Flight looks back over her shoulder, while her body moves forward with speed to make way for the oncoming day; her form is weighted toward the left, heightening the sense of movement [Gloria Kittleson, Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America (1985), p. 71].
According to Edwin Murtha, twenty bronzes were cast from this model, while a larger version was cast in an edition of six in 1918.
Provenance
Clyde C. Trees, New York (owner of the Medallic Art Company, New York), until 1960; by bequest toFrances K. Trees (widow of the above), 1960-2005; by bequest to
Private collection, Atlanta, Georgia, until the present
Literature
cf. Edwin Murtha, Paul Manship, New York: Macmillan Company, 1957, p. 153, illus. p. 158cf. Gloria Kittleson, Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America, St. Paul: Minnesota Museum of Art, 1985, illus. p. 71 and cover
cf. Harry Rand, Paul Manship, Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution, 1989, pp. 117, 165, illus. p. 118
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