Robert Laurent

June 29, 1890 — Concarneau, France

Robert Laurent was a French-born American sculptor who played a pivotal role in bringing the practice of direct carving — working directly in wood, stone, or other materials without intermediary models — to American sculpture in the early twentieth century. His early exposure to modernist art in Europe and his long career teaching at the Art Students League and Indiana University made him a significant conduit through which European modernist ideas reached American sculptors. He is considered one of the pioneers of American modernist sculpture.

Early Life and Artistic Formation

Born on June 29, 1890, in Concarneau, Brittany, France, Laurent was informally adopted as a child by American art dealer Hamilton Easter Field, who brought him to the United States and later to Italy, where Laurent studied art in Rome and Florence. In Paris he was exposed to the work of the Post-Impressionists and early modernists, and he developed a deep interest in non-Western and folk art traditions. He began carving directly in wood — rather than modeling in clay and casting — an approach that was uncommon at the time and that aligned with modernist ideas about honesty to materials and the direct engagement of artist with medium. He settled in the United States and became a key figure in the American modernist art scene of the 1910s and 1920s.

Career and Influence

Laurent was a central figure in the progressive American art world of the early twentieth century — exhibiting alongside modernist peers, teaching at the Art Students League in New York, and later joining the faculty of Indiana University, where he taught for decades. His sculptures in wood and alabaster typically depicted the human figure with simplified, flowing forms influenced by both archaic art traditions and contemporary modernism. He was closely associated with Hamilton Easter Field's Ogunquit, Maine, arts community, which brought together progressive American artists during the 1910s and 1920s. He also created public sculptures and contributed to the Federal Art Project during the New Deal era. His work is held in major American museum collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Legacy

Robert Laurent died on April 20, 1970. His legacy in American art history is as one of the figures who made direct carving a legitimate and respected sculptural practice in the United States, influencing generations of American sculptors. His teaching career at Indiana University extended his influence far beyond New York's art world. He helped introduce American sculpture to the vocabulary of modernism, and his work — elegant, humanist, and rooted in deep respect for materials — remains an important part of the story of American modernist art.