Woman with Hair in a Bun

c. 1930

Julio González
Spanish, 1876–1942

A pioneer of welded iron sculpture, Julio González initially worked in his native Barcelona as a metalsmith and later pursued a career in painting in Paris. It was there that he came to know Pablo Picasso, with whom he eventually embarked on a group of landmark metal sculptures. This work is one of approximately 30 heads that González fabricated during the first, and most experimental, phase of his evolution as a sculptor. It presents a traditional subject—the head of a woman—executed in a modernist style and industrial technique. Rather than carving a stone or wood block, or modeling with clay or plaster, González welded together pieces of iron cut into geometric shapes to indicate a woman’s features.

Status: On View, Gallery 394
Department: Modern Art

Artist: Julio González
Title: Woman with Hair in a Bun
Place: Spain (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1925–1935
Medium: Iron on stone base
Inscriptions: none
Dimensions: 54.6 × 20.3 × 21 cm (21 1/2 × 8 × 8 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Ada Turnbull Hertle, Laura R. Magnuson, Samuel A. Marx, and Morris L. Parker funds
Reference Number: 1981.648
Copyright: © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

P. G. Brugière, “Julio Gonzalez: Les étapas de l’oeuvre,” Cahiers d’art 27:1 (1952), p. 21 (ill.), as Tête, 1933.
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Julio Gonzalez: Sculptures (Paris: Editions des Musées Nationaux, 1952), p. 16 (cat. 66), as Tête, 1933.
Stedelijk Museum, Julio Gonzalez (Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1955), n.p. (cat. b, ill.), as Masker, Masque, 1933.
Kunsthalle, Julio Gonzalez (Bern: Kunsthalle, 1955), n.p. (cat. b, ill.), as Masque, 1933.
Société des Amis des Arts, Julio González (La Chaux-de-Fonds: Musée des Amis des Arts, 1955), n.p. (ill.), 1933 (no title).
Vicente Aguilera Cerni, Julio, Joan, Roberta González: Itinerario de una Dinastía (Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, 1973), p. 206 (ill., no. 143), as Tête de femme au chignon, 1929.
Josephine Withers, Julio Gonzalez: Sculpture in Iron (New York: New York University Press, 1978), p. 160 (no. 47), as Tête, c. 1930.
The Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report (1981–1982), pp. 13, 14 (ill., fig. 17), and 39, as Tête de femme au chignon, 1929.
Margit Rowell, Julio González: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1983), p. 99 (cat. 106, ills.), as Head with Chignon (Tête au chignon), ca. 1930.
Jörn Merkert, Julio González: Catalogue raisonné des sculptures (Milan: Electa, 1987), pp. 108 (cat. no. 124, ill.), 109, as Femme au chignon, ca. 1930.
James N. Wood and Teri J. Edelstein, The Art Institute of Chicago: Twentieth-Century Painting and Sculpture (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1996), p. 61 (ill.), as Woman with Hair in a Bun, 1929-30.

Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Julio Gonzalez: Sculptures, February 1–March 9, 1952, p. 16 (cat. 66), as Tête, 1933.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Julio Gonzalez, April 5–May 10, 1955, n.p. (cat. b, ill.), as Masker, Masque, 1933; traveled to Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, May 20–June 19, 1955.
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Julio González: A Retrospective, March 11–May 8, 1983, p. 99 (cat. 106, ills.), as Head with Chignon (Tête au chignon), ca. 1930.
Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, The Age of Picasso and Matisse: Modern Masters from the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 6, 2013–Feb. 16, 2014, no cat. no.

André Salmon (1881–1969), Sanary-sur-Mer, France, by 1952 [Paris 1952]. Private Collection, Paris, by 1973 [Cerni 1973]. Sold through B. C. Holland Gallery, Chicago, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1981.

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