Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885–1966)
Head of Pavlova
INV-3262
Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885–1966)1924
Head of Pavlova
Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885–1966) →Modernismsculpturemodern and contemporary art
Date
1924
Medium
Wax on plaster with pigment, on wood mount
Dimensions
Sculpture: 40.6 × 23.5 × 15.9 cm (16 × 9 5/16 × 6 5/16 in.); Base: 24.1 × 22 × 22.2 cm (9 1/2 × 8 11/16 × 8 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mrs. James A. Cook, Mrs. T. Clifford Rodman, and Joseph Nash Field
In 1910 the sculptor Malvina Hoffman saw the famed Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova perform in London, a
profound experience that ultimately led to their close friendship. Hoffman spent years capturing the exquisite
grace of Pavlova’s movement in different sculptures and reliefs, yet in Head of Pavlova she created a restrained, almost melancholic portrait of the dancer wearing an elaborate Russian headdress, her eyes nearly closed. Hoffman explained that in her portraits of Pavlova, her friend appears as a “rather sad, thoughtful person, far removed from the vivacious and exciting fairy that Pavlova represents over the footlights.”
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