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Groupe de femmes

Groupe de femmes, also called Groupe de trois femmes, or Groupe de trois personnages, is an early Cubist sculpture created circa 1911 by the Hungarian avant-garde, sculptor, and graphic artist Joseph Csaky (1888–1971). This sculpture formerly known from a black and white photograph (Galerie René Reichard) had been erroneously entitled Deux Femmes (Two Women), as the image captured on an angle showed only two figures. An additional photograph found in the Csaky family archives shows a frontal view of the work, revealing three figures rather than two. Csaky's sculpture was exhibited at the 1912 Salon d'Automne, and the 1913 Salon des Indépendants, Paris. A photograph taken of Salle XI in sitiu at the 1912 Salon d'Automne and published in L'Illustration, 12 October 1912, p. 47, shows Groupe de femmes exhibited alongside the works of Jean Metzinger, František Kupka, Francis Picabia, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Le Fauconnier.

Groupe de femmes
(Groupe de trois personnages)

Joseph Csaky

1911-12

Sculpture (original plaster). Csaky photographic archives (AC. 109)

Dimensions and whereabouts unknown (presumed destroyed)

At the 1913 Salon des Indépendants Groupe de femmes was exhibited in the company works by Fernand Léger, Jean Metzinger, Robert Delaunay, André Lhote, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Jacques Villon and Wassily Kandinsky.[1]


The whereabouts of Groupe de femmes is unknown and the sculpture is presumed to have been destroyed.

exhibited the sculptures Groupe de femmes, 1911-1912 (location unknown), Portrait de M.S.H., no. 91 (location unknown), and Danseuse (Femme à l'éventail, Femme à la cruche) no. 405 (location unknown)

Joseph Csaky

entered three works: Dancer in a café (entitled Danseuse), La Plume Jaune (The Yellow Feather), Femme à l'Éventail (Woman with a Fan) (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York), hung in the decorative arts section inside La Maison Cubiste (the Cubist House).

Jean Metzinger

1912, La Source (The Spring) (Museum of Modern Art, New York)

Francis Picabia

exhibited La Femme en Bleu (Woman in Blue), 1912 (Kunstmuseum, Basel) and Le passage à niveau (The Level Crossing), 1912 (Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland)

Fernand Léger

Les Baigneuse (The bathers) 1912 (The National Gallery, Washington) and Les joueurs de cartes (Card Players)

Roger de La Fresnaye

The Huntsman (Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Netherlands) and Les Montagnards attaqués par des ours (Mountaineers Attacked by Bears) 1912 (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design).

Henri Le Fauconnier

l'Homme au Balcon (Man on a Balcony, Portrait of Dr. Théo Morinaud), 1912 (Philadelphia Museum of Art), also exhibited at the Armory show, New York, Chicago, Boston, 1913.

Albert Gleizes

Le jugement de Paris, 1912 (Private collection)

André Lhote

Amorpha, Fugue à deux couleurs (Fugue in Two Colors), 1912 (Narodni Galerie, Prague), and Amorpha Chromatique Chaude.

František Kupka

Family Life, 1912, sculpture (destroyed)

Alexander Archipenko

exhibited four sculptures of elongated and highly stylized heads

Amedeo Modigliani

Paris, 1 October - 8 November 1912 (not listed in the catalogue but known to have been exhibited from a photograph taken of Salle XI in sitiu at the 1912 Salon d'Automne and published in L'Illustration, 12 October 1912, p. 47).

Salon d'Automne

(Salon de la Société des Artistes Indépendants), Paris, 1913, listed in the catalogue as Groupe de femmes (plaster).

Salon des Indépendants

Geneva, 1920 (no number).

Galerie Moos

René Reichard, Joseph Csaky, Frankfurt, 1988, n. 14.

Billy Klüver and Julie Martin, Kiki de Montparnasse, Flammarion, 1989, salle XI, rep. p. 47.

Edith Balas, Joseph Csaky, A Pioneer of Modern Sculpture, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA., 1998, fig. 5, rep. p. 23.

Félix Marcilhac, József Csáky, Du cubisme historique à la figuration réaliste, catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Les Editions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2007. rep. p. 314 (1912-FM.14)

Early Cycladic art II period, Harp Player, marble, H 13,5 cm, W 5,7 cm, D 10,9 cm, Cycladic figurine, Bronze Age, early spedos type, Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany

Early Cycladic art II period, Harp Player, marble, H 13,5 cm, W 5,7 cm, D 10,9 cm, Cycladic figurine, Bronze Age, early spedos type, Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany

Les Trois Graces, Marble, exhibited at the 1831 Salon. The plaster model was finished by 1825, The Louvre, Paris, Department of Sculptures, Richelieu, ground floor, room 32

Les Trois Graces, Marble, exhibited at the 1831 Salon. The plaster model was finished by 1825, The Louvre, Paris, Department of Sculptures, Richelieu, ground floor, room 32

Raphaël, Les Trois Graces, cited by Auguste Rodin. In L'Art, interview by Paul Gsell, Grasset, 1911, page 265

Raphaël, Les Trois Graces, cited by Auguste Rodin. In L'Art, interview by Paul Gsell, Grasset, 1911, page 265

The Three Graces. Copie artwork of the Imperial period after a Greek original of the 2nd century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Three Graces. Copie artwork of the Imperial period after a Greek original of the 2nd century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art

L'Europe de Rubens, Les Trois Grâces

L'Europe de Rubens, Les Trois Grâces

Paul Cézanne, Trois baigneuses, 1879–1882, oil on canvas, 42 x 55 cm, Petit Palais, Paris

Paul Cézanne, Trois baigneuses, 1879–1882, oil on canvas, 42 x 55 cm, Petit Palais, Paris

Auguste Rodin, The three shades ("Les Trois Ombres"), for the top of The Gates of Hell, before 1886, plaster

Auguste Rodin, The three shades ("Les Trois Ombres"), for the top of The Gates of Hell, before 1886, plaster

Paul Gauguin, 1894, Oviri (Sauvage), partially glazed stoneware, 75 x 19 x 27 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Paul Gauguin, 1894, Oviri (Sauvage), partially glazed stoneware, 75 x 19 x 27 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Alexander Archipenko, 1912, Le Repos, Armory Show post card, 1913

Alexander Archipenko, 1912, Le Repos, Armory Show post card, 1913

Alexander Archipenko, 1912, La Vie Familiale (Family Life). Exhibited at the 1912 Salon d'Automne, Paris and the 1913 Armory Show in New York, Chicago and Boston. The original sculpture (approx. six feet tall) accidentally destroyed

Alexander Archipenko, 1912, La Vie Familiale (Family Life). Exhibited at the 1912 Salon d'Automne, Paris and the 1913 Armory Show in New York, Chicago and Boston. The original sculpture (approx. six feet tall) accidentally destroyed

Joseph Csaky, Head (self-portrait), 1913, Plaster lost. Photo published in Montjoie, 1914

Joseph Csaky, Head (self-portrait), 1913, Plaster lost. Photo published in Montjoie, 1914

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1914, Boy with a Coney (Boy with a rabbit), marble

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1914, Boy with a Coney (Boy with a rabbit), marble

Canudo, Ricciotto, 1914, Montjoie, text by André Salmon, 3rd issue, 18 March

Ministère de la Culture, France, La Médiathèque de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, Base Memoire

Base Arcade, Culture.gouv.fr Csaky

Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Holland, 23 works by Joseph Csaky

Agence Photographique de la Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées