In 1909, at the age of eighteen, Lipchitz left his native Lithuania to become a sculptor in Paris. Supported by a stipend from his family, he rented a studio in Montparnasse in 1912—next door to the sculptor Constantin Brancusi. He became acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, and Juan Gris and soon developed an interest in avant-garde art, especially cubism. Lipchitz produced a significant body of works treating familiar cubist and Spanish themes, including figures with a variety of musical instruments.