Georges Jeanclos’s Sleepers (Dormeurs)
May 28, 2016 - February 4, 2018
Judaica (G362)
Free exhibition
Georges Jeanclos (1933–97) was among the most important ceramic sculptors in France during the late 20th century. He developed personal imagery centering on themes of death, birth, resurrection, and human interconnection. Jeanclos’s exploration of the human condition was rooted in his experience as a Jewish boy during World War II, hiding in the forests around Vichy, in Nazi-occupied France, to escape the Gestapo (German secret police). This object-in-focus exhibition presents the new sculptural acquisition Sleepers (Dormeurs) from 1979 in an expanded context, including his unique sculptural method in clay, and the work’s reflection of his Jewish identity and personal experiences.
Georges Jeanclos
French, 1933-97
Dormeurs (Sleepers), 1979
Fired clay
Gift of funds from Tamara and Michael Root and the Marguerite S. McNally Endowment for Art Acquistion 2015.72
Image: © de Georges Jeanclos.