MAIN GAUCHE LEVÉE N°2 – RAISED LEFT HAND N°2
Medium : Plaster
Dimensions : 37 x 18,5 x 15 cm
“Main gauche levée (Raised left hand)”, one of Julio González’s final works, is a bronze cast of plaster sculpture from 1942.
Like its companion piece, Raised right hand, Raised left hand is a simple, figurative sculpture of an arm culminating in a hand with vigorously outstretched fingers. While the left hand is disposed horizontally in relation to the arm, the right hand is positioned more vertically.
The motif of the hand is frequent in González’s late work, which coincides with the defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, which he experienced in Occupied Paris. The hand is often associated with the motif of the Catalan peasant, the Montserrat, his favored subject to express both his outrage and solidarity for those suffering the consequences of the war. Over the years, the Montserrat is transformed from a defiant, courageous peasant mother to a terrorized victim, often depicted with raised hands and outstretched fingers, to protect herself from the unseen dangers of war, for example in “Petite Montserrat effrayée (Small, frightened Montserrat)”, 1942.
In fact, Raised left hand and Raised right hand are thought to have been created as part of a larger monument to the defeated Spanish Republic, for which Small, frightened Montserrat was a model. However, his untimely death on March 27, 1942, didn’t allow him time to complete it.
On the other hand, the motif of a raised hand also symbolizes militant resistance, for example, his more abstract “Main debout (Raised hand)”, 1937.
Raised left hand and Raised right hand both condemn the suffering of civilians in Spain, Europe, and beyond, and advocate for resistance against oppression. It attests to González’s enduring commitment to freedom in the face of adversity, in life and in art, through the end of his days.
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