Hans Josephsohn Untitled, 1995/2001

The sculptural practice of Hans Josephsohn (1920–2012) is characterised by his lifelong preoccupation with the human form. Balancing careful precision with expressive treatment, Josephsohn’s sculptures are raw expressions of human vitality, and their textured surfaces speak to the unmediated relationship between the artist’s hand and the sculpted forms. Josephsohn’s sensitive perception of his environment gave rise to a series of reclining figures started in 1965 – one of which is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The series was inspired by the image of his girlfriend, lying propped up on a mattress. Taken by the beauty and fragility of the scene, Josephsohn was inspired to depict this subject in his sculptures, a motif he continued until his death. Crafted from plaster and cast in brass, the surface of Untitled is tactile and roughly finished, with traces of the artist’s fingermarks visibly embedded in it. Resounding with a timeless quality, Josephsohn imbues his works with a sense of exuberance and humanity, capturing the essence of the lived body.