Femme dite "Les trois plis" (Woman Known as "The Three Pleats") - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

The online collection and picture sale

Home > The online collection and picture sale > Femme dite “Les trois plis” (Woman Known as “The Three Pleats”)

Buy image

Femme dite “Les trois plis” (Woman Known as “The Three Pleats”)

González, Julio

Barcelona, 21/09/1876-Arcueil, France, 27/03/1942

Wrought and welded iron

142.5 x 33 x 21.1 cm

c. 1931-1932

Second quarter of the 20th century

DEP625

Deposited by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, after transfer in lieu of tax by BBV in 1999

The sculpture represents a female torso, assembled out of sheets of iron that reduce its volume to the slightest expression. In spite of the schematic and frontal treatment of the figure, viewers discover the three pleats of the skirt, alluded to in the sculpture's title, and the woman's breasts and buttocks. This is one of González's first masterpieces, the forerunner of a long series in which the female figure is portrayed standing up and almost life-size. It was produced in the early thirties, just before the artist entered a more experimental phase that led to a set of works that gained him his reputation as "the father of 20th-century iron sculpture".

After his beginnings as a goldsmith in the workshop run by his family, Julio González moved to Paris in 1899 with the intention of becoming a painter. In the French capital he met other Spanish painters such as Pablo Gargallo and Francisco Durrio. His career took a turn when he began to make and exhibit sculptural works in metal. In 1927 González produced his first iron sculptures and the following year began a fruitful collaboration with Picasso, which would last until 1932 and materialised in a series of forged-iron works. His command of draughtsmanship and of metalwork gave rise to a new language that would mark the evolution of contemporary sculpture. [Marta García Maruri]

Selected bibliography

  • Aguilera Cerni, Vicente. Julio, Joan, Roberta González : itinerario de una dinastía. Barcelona, Polígrafa, 1973. pp. 337, 397, n° cat. 438.
  • Whiters, Josephine. Julio Gonzalez : sculpture in Iron. New York, New York University Press, 1978. p. 161, n° cat. 52. (Con el título Femme dite 'aux trois plis')
  • Rowell, Margit. Julio González : a retrospective [Cat. exp.]. New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim, 1983. p. 91, n° cat. 97. (Con el título Femme dite 'aux trois plis')
  • Markert, Jörn. Julio González : catalogue raisonné des sculptures. Milano, Electa, 1987. p. 121, n° cat. 130.
  • "A selection of 1999 museum acquisitions", Apollo : the international magazine of arts, n° 454. 1999. p. 46, il.
  • Julio González : femme dite ”les trois . Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes, 1999. (Aparece reproducida en blanco y negro, y se menciona junto a la ”Relación de obras de Julio González que integran la donación de Viviane Grimminger”, que figura al final del catálogo).
  • Sánchez Gimeno, Elvira. "La fiscalidad del arte : una reforma insuficiente", Subastas siglo XXI, Marzo. 2000. p. 10.
  • Paris, Barcelona, 1888-1937 [Cat. exp.]. Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux ; Museu Picasso , 2002. p. 548.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 157.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 157.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 157.
  • Julio González : retrospectiva [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona ; Madrid, Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya ; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2008. pp. 84-85, 220, n° cat. 110.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 160, n° cat. 112.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 160, n° 112.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 160.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 160.
  • Maestros : Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao . Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 98-99, il.
  • Maisuak : Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 98-99, il.
  • Masters : Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 98-99, il.
  • Maîtres : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bilbao. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 98-99, il.
  • 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 244-245, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 244-245, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 244-245, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 244-245, sin n° cat.
  • Bilboko Museoaren alfabetoa = El alfabeto del Museo de Bilbao = The alphabet of the Bilbao Museum = L'alphabet du Musée de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 132, 137, n° cat. 61.