Line of the Head, plate 10 (page 91) from À la gloire de la main

Best known for her large, roughly modeled sculptures in dark patinated bronze, Germaine Richier was an important figure in the post-World War II avant garde. Her provocative hybrids of human forms crossed with spiders, toads and vegetal elements, ravaged and misshapen, are steeped in a deep fascination with mythology and existential philosophy. Evolving alongside the elongated forms of Alberto Giacometti’s post-Surrealist period, Richier’s oeuvre foreshadows the sculpture of Kiki Smith and Louise Bourgeois.

Montpellier, France