Gallery Notes Volume 44 Number 4 Page 1

              GALLERY NOTES
November 1978
Vol. 44, No. 4
Acquisition
A major work by Gaston Lachaise—virtually
unknown to the public until now—is newly on
display at the Gallery. "Fountain Figure," a
slightly larger-than-lifesize carving from
Tennessee marble, is the gift of the late
Charlotte Whitney Allen, longtime Gallery
benefactor and member of our Board of
Managers.
The Lachaise is among some two dozen
works of art in Mrs. Allen's personal collection
that have come to the Gallery following her
death on April 24. She had made a gift of the
artworks some years earlier, maintaining lifetime
possession of them. Among other works in this
distinguished collection are the fine painting of
the fountain at Vence by Raoul Dufy, illustrated
in the summer Gallery Notes, a small oil by
Matisse, and sculptures by Calder and Maillol.
Believed to have been commissioned from the
artist by Mrs. Allen, the fountain figure is a
unique piece. As far as is known, Lachaise made
no replicas. For almost 50 years it was the
central feature of the important Fletcher Steele-
designed garden at Mrs. Allen's home. Until it
went on display at the Gallery, the only other
time it had been on public view was in 1927,
when it was apparently exhibited in New York
by Lachaise before he sent it to Rochester.
The figure is unusual in its painted features-
brown hair and golden eyes and lips—common
to several other of Lachaise's stone sculptures
of this period. At this point worn somewhat thin
by a half-century of Rochester winters, the paint
will be restored.
The figure joins a group of 17 other sculptures
and drawings by Lachaise in the Gallery
collection. In January we plan an exhibition of
works of Gaston Lachaise, centered around our
own collection, supplemented by loans from
other museums.
GASTON LACHAISE (1882-1935)
Fountain Figure, 1927
Tennessee marble, 6 feet high
Gift of Charlotte Whitney Allen
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester