Skip Navigation

Ivan Mestrovic

Malvina Hoffman

American Art

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor

One of the few American students of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin, Malvina Hoffman also studied equestrian sculpture briefly with the Croatian artist Ivan Mestrovic (1881-1962). While she worked with him, Mestrovic did her portrait and Hoffman modeled what eventually became this over-life-size statue of her mentor. Clad in an open-collared smock and loose trousers, the figure peers intently at the lump of clay waiting to be modeled in his hand. This monumental image portrays Mestrovic, who later settled in the United States, as a heroic artist at the height of his creative powers.

MEDIUM Bronze
DATES 1925
DIMENSIONS 86 5/8 x 42 1/8 x 31 1/2 in. (220 x 107 x 80 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Foundry mark inscribed on proper left side at bottom of base: "ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-"
SIGNATURE Inscribed on proper left front, top corner of base: "MALViNA HOFFMAN / 1925"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 26.519
CREDIT LINE Gift of Felix M. Warburg and Edward C. Blum
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Over-life-sized figure of a man standing on a mounded base; figure stands with legs apart and turns head to gaze at loosely modeled crucifix held up in proper right hand; proper left hand holds chisel and rests against chest; figure dressed in work clothes of loose pants and an open-collared robe; has short hair, mustache, and goatee; overall textured, rough surface. Condition: Good
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885–1966). Ivan Mestrovic, 1925. Bronze, 86 5/8 x 42 1/8 x 31 1/2 in. (220 x 107 x 80 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Felix M. Warburg and Edward C. Blum, 26.519. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 26.519_bw.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 26.519_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT © Estate of Malvina Hoffman
The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.