The sculptor Elie Nadelman was born in Warsaw. Early in his career he traveled to Paris where he met Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse and had several successful one-person shows. With the outbreak of World War I, Nadelman moved to New York City where his popularity continued to grow. After he lost most of his wealth in the stock market crash of 1929, he became reclusive and did not participate in exhibitions. Only after his death in 1946 did his work regain the recognition it had earned early in his career. Today, Nadelman is considered a pioneer of American modern sculpture. His style, a combination of the ancient classicism of Hellenistic sculptures, the sinuous line of Art Nouveau and the simplicity of American folk art, is reflected in Ideal Head of a Girl with Long Hair.
Ideal Head of a Girl with Long Hair, Elie Nadelman
