GUSTAVE MIKLOS
This is a preparatory study for the sculptures also known as ‘Cubist Towers’.
H 90 1/2 - W 16 1/2 in.
Provenance
Gerolamo Etro's Collection, London, 2025The two preparatory drawings by Gustave Miklos for the Cubist Towers fully embody the spirit of experimentation that characterized Cubism in the 1910s. Like artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris, Miklos does not seek to faithfully represent a building, but rather to analyze its fundamental components: space, mass, and volume.
In these studies, the tower is no longer a recognizable architectural object in the traditional sense. It becomes a mental construction, developed from interlocking geometric planes and simplified forms. The dominant vertical elements structure the composition, while cutouts, overlaps, and variations in texture and color suggest a fragmentation of reality. This approach reflects a desire to move beyond mere representation in order to achieve a form of formal synthesis, where each element contributes to a unified whole.
Miklos thus appears to be experimenting with a translation of the Cubist language into a mode closer to the decorative arts, already anticipating the aesthetic directions of Art Deco.
Expositions
Galerie L'Enseigne du Cerceau, October 25 to November 30, 1972, 'Gustave Miklos, sculpteur 1888-1967'Bibliographie
Victor Arwas, ‘Art Deco’, New York, 1980, p. 177, for the sculpture illustrated
Félix Marcilhac, ‘Gustave Miklos, Joseph Csaky’, Budapest, 2010, p. 3 for the sculpture illustrated
Danuta Cichocka, ‘Gustave Miklos : Volume II, Le moderniste byzantin’, Paris, 2014, pp. 40-41, no. S21A for the preparatory drawing
Alastair Duncan, ‘Art Deco Sculpture’, New York, 2016, p. 102 for the sculpture illustrated
