Wrestlers

Wrestlers is Robert Laurent's precisely drawn lithograph showing a stocky man firmly gripping his prone opponent in a wrestling hold. The crisply-outlined bodies appear to float in space on a blank background that provides no context for their sport activity. Focusing exclusively on the figures, Laurent created delicate shading with the lithographic crayon to model the interlocked limbs and torsos of the compact wrestlers, giving these forms a sculptural three-dimensionality.

Little is known of the few prints created by Laurent, who was primarily a sculptor. His directly carved wood reliefs and three-dimensional sculptures were inspired by works by French artists Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) and Aristide Maillol (1861–1944), as well as by the wood carvings of African and Pacific island cultures that influenced many early twentieth-century modernist artists, who rejected traditional artistic conventions in search of a more direct and authentic means of expression. In its powerful blocky forms and exploration of the athletes' interlocked bodies as an abstract design on the flat surface of the paper, Wrestlers complements Laurent's sculpture.

L'Amérique et les Modernes, 1900–1950 (American Moderns, 1900–1950), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 25–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.

Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. American Moderns, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Fig. 2, p. 76 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Fig. 2, p. 76 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Shaykin, Rebecca. Edith Halpert: The Downtown Gallery and the Rise of American Art. (exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York). New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019. Ill. p. 79 (color).