LE PIED – THE FOOT
1934 -1936
Medium : Iron, cast, welded, cut, bent
Dimensions : 22 x 21 x 7,5 cm
The Foot, 1934-1936, bronze cast of a sculpture in forged, welded, cut and bent iron
Le Pied (The Foot) is formed from a piece of sheet iron that Julio González bent, cut, forged and welded into a rough L-shape, in such a way that it resembles a foot.
Though the human body is a constant theme in González’s work, The Foot is unique within his oeuvre. Indeed, though González focused individually on the face or the bust on several occasions in his sculptures, he represented a stand-alone foot only once.
This seemingly simple foot is emblematic of several innovative aspects of González’s work.
The sides of the sheet metal are bent and folded over to schematically suggest the contours of the ankle and the top of the foot. Its three-dimensionality is only achieved by including the empty space to fill out the volumes outlined in iron. This speaks to the revolutionary use of the void as a constructive element in González’s work.
The fragmented nature of The Foot gives it a certain resemblance to a vestige of an ancient stone sculpture, into which González has breathed new life. The overtness of the welding seam in the toe area, and the conspicuously jagged contours cut into the iron, reinforce the unique texture of the iron and underline the artist’s role in the creative process. This celebration of González’s signature material and his intervention further attest to the modernity of this work.
Evocative of stability and fragility, the eternal and the transient, this work born of this Catalan sculptor’s technical prowess, respect for tradition and innovative vision is a salient example of Julio González’s revolutionary artistic practice.
