Gaston Lachaise's First Major French Retrospective at La Piscine

The La Piscine museum in Roubaix, France, hosted the first major French retrospective of Franco-American sculptor Gaston Lachaise from June 21 to September 7, 2003. Curated by Jean-Loup Champion with director Bruno Gaudichon, the exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Lachaise Foundation of Boston and accompanied by a catalogue published by Gallimard featuring texts by Louise Bourgeois, Jean Clair, and others. Lachaise (1882–1935) was born in Paris and moved to the US after falling in love with Isabel Dutaud Nagel, who became his sole muse. His monumental, eroticized female figures—such as "La Montagne" and "Torse aux bras levés"—blend classical and modernist influences from Rodin, Matisse, Brancusi, and de Kooning. Despite acclaim in America, Lachaise remained obscure in France. The exhibition highlighted his late masterpieces, including "Femme acrobate" and "In Extremis," produced before his early death. The show also featured previously unseen photographs by Lachaise of his muse.