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Accession #	28.275
Artist	Robert Laurent
Title	The Wave
Date	1926
Medium	Alabaster
Dimensions	13 1/2 × 24 1/2 × 20 in., 200 lb. (34.3 × 62.2 × 50.8 cm)
Signed	Incised along bottom edge below proper right hand: "LAURENT"
Credit Line	Caroline H. Polhemus Fund
Location	Visible Storage: Case 30, Shelf D (Sculpture)
Description	Ovoid statue carved into figure of reclining, nude female with head facing upward and body bent back and curled over rock; feet and proper right hand peep out between ribbon-like waves; fish swimming in waves at her back; forms stylized and smoothly polished, rock roughly hewn. Condition: Good.

Curatorial Remarks:

Embracing a subject that corresponded to the natural "life" of white alabaster, the Brooklynite Robert Laurent here worked his design onto the stone surface, almost magically implying the continuation of the forms within the rock mass. In keeping with direct-carving ideals, requiring direct contact with the raw, natural material, he then hand-polished the surface to raise a brilliance and translucency from the naturally chalky stone.