GAUDIER-BRZESKA, HENRI

born Oct. 4, 1891, Saint Jean-de-Braye, Fr. died June 5, 1915, Neuville-Saint-Vaast original name Henri Gaudier French artist, one of the earliest abstract sculptors and an outstanding exponent of the Vorticist movement; he was instrumental in introducing modern art to England during the early years of the 20th century. Gaudier did not take up sculpture until 1910, after he had completed his artistic training at Orlans. The following year, he met Sophie Brzeska, who remained his devoted companion, and added her last name to his. The next year, he moved to London, where the poet Ezra Pound became his patron and propagandist; the writer and painter Wyndham Lewis drew him into the Vorticist movement just before World War I. The early carvings of Sir Jacob Epstein affected him, but he showed original attitudes toward form and content that reflected a deep understanding of the French avant-garde movement called Cubism, ultimately moving beyond it into pure abstraction. Gaudier-Brzeska was killed in combat in World War I. The premature death of this magnetic prodigy spawned a legend of unfulfilled genius.