11. George Zachary Constant
(1892-1978)
Still Life with Pears

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Constant: Still Life with Pears

Still Life with Pears

Drypoint, ca. 1937, 278 x 324 mm., Library of Congress N.D. A fine impression on J. Whatman, 1937 wove paper with full margins, signed in pencil. A draped napkin, a footed tazza with pears and one pear on the napkin, mostly in strong outline covered with thousands of tiny strokes of drypoint giving a totally sculptured feel to the image. Constant was born in a mountain village in Greece, orphaned at four, and raised by two uncles, one of whom headed the monastery of Eleusa. It was there that he studied the icons, began to draw and absorbed some of the elements of Classic and Archaic Greek art. He emigrated in 1922, becoming, almost immediately upon his arrival here, one of the pioneers of American modernist painting and graphics. Such is one of the more striking examples of the effects of a change of venue. His works are to be found in many American museums.