Shipping

A pioneer of the direct-carving aesthetic in American sculpture and an early proponent of modernist design, Robert Laurent was the oldest and best-known of the six sculptors commissioned to provide exterior decoration for the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission. Laurent chose shipping as the theme of his overdoor relief. His is early sketches for the piece were completed in his typically expressive style. However, the Section of Painting and Sculpture, responsible for approving the piece, raised objections to the anatomical distortion of the figures and asked Laurent to curb his individual style in order to create a more harmonious and unified appearance with the other sculptors.

Born in France, Robert Laurent was befriended by American painter Hamilton Easter Field at an early age and traveled with him to Rome in 1907 to study sculpture at the British Academy. Laurent immigrated to the United States and established his studio in New York City. His work took inspiration from a variety of eclectic sources, including African sculpture, the work of Paul Gauguin, and Assyrian reliefs. His best known commissions include The Goose Girl (1932) for Radio City Music Hall in New York and Spanning the Continent (1938) for Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.