By Luciano Migliaccio
According to the critic Clement Greenberg, Lipchitz’ best period was between 1925 and 1930 when he created small models which were never executed full-scale. The Masp bronze Pierrot with Mandolin pertains to this group of works. According to Aguilar (1991, page 101), Le Corbusier leader of the group Esprit Nouveau, in which Lipchitz participated, later resorted to the forms revealed in this sculpture when designing the Ronchamp chapel. The artist’s relationship with architecture was significant in the development of his work. From a frontal viewpoint, the interplay of convex and concave forms transmits an awesome balance that lightly descends upon the three lower parts of the sculpture. The straight, vertical and horizontal lines intertwined with sinuous volumes, synthetically representing the head, arm and musical instrument, transmit musicality and a sentimental feeling to the bronze work, and bring to mind the masks of Picasso from his Parade period and Braque’s Woman with a Guitar (1922-23, Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne). This work belonged to Olivia Guedes Penteado, a Brazilian collector, whose sensitivity to vanguard art and friendship with Blaise Cendrars and Tarsila do Amaral guided her acquisitions in Paris.

— Luciano Migliaccio, 1998

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