Released on = August 23, 2007, 6:06 pm

Press Release Author = Rosemary McKittrick

Industry = Entertainment

Press Release Summary = Rosemary McKittrick's column is one of the premier sources
for online art, antique and collectible information. Visit the site and sign up for
a free weekly subscription.

Press Release Body = Aug. 23, 2007-- His timeless beauties are frozen in time and
they still seem to be moving. Long, lean, alluring and active, Dimitri Chiparus
understood the art of sculpting women. He sculpted them in a way that celebrated
the female form.

Chiparus specialized in exotic, graceful dancers. The jewel-like costumes his
sculptures wear almost sway as they move. Other costumes hug the dancers flesh like
a second skin.

The artist was active in Paris during the rise of the Art Deco movement in the
1920s. He was inspired by the elegant dancers of the Ballets Russe in the music
halls. He was moved by the sexy, chorus line acts in the nightclubs.

Chiparus purchased all the magazines which illustrated the dancers. The women and
their elaborate costumes, the dramatic performances--everything fed his art.

He sculpted a world of decadence and luxury. His art was a tribute to theatrical
drama and the Art Deco era.

Chiparus' later works in the 1920\'s were influenced heavily by his interest in Egypt
and the excavation of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb.

Much of his sculpture is a combination of bronze and ivory inlay. His ladies often
rest on elegant onyx and marble bases. It's the kind of sculpture that coaxes
collectors to buy another and another.

"Les Girls" is a good example. The sculpture depicts a chorus line of five dancers
in perfectly timed movement. Their costumes are so snug they look like bare skin
laced in jewels. Their movements are so unified they seem connected. The only
thing missing here is the music driving them.

The piece was edited in three different dancing variations, including a single
figure, a three-figure group, and a five-figure group. The five-figure version sold
at auction on April 17, 2007. It was the only sculpture by Chiparus to feature that
many figures on a single base. "Les Girls" brought $936,000 at Sotheby's, New York

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