Spirit of Antiquity
Ossip Zadkine
(Russian (active in Paris from 1909), 1890–1967)
1927
Medium/TechniqueStone, painted glass, plaster, marble
DimensionsOverall (column): 30.5 x 31.6 cm (12 x 12 7/16 in.)
Overall (scroll): 26.7 x 37.5 cm (10 1/2 x 14 3/4 in.)
Overall (head): 44.5 cm (17 1/2 in.)
Overall (painted glass): 53 x 40 cm (20 7/8 x 15 3/4 in.)
Overall (marble): 45.7 x 50.2 cm (18 x 19 3/4 in.)
Overall (scroll): 26.7 x 37.5 cm (10 1/2 x 14 3/4 in.)
Overall (head): 44.5 cm (17 1/2 in.)
Overall (painted glass): 53 x 40 cm (20 7/8 x 15 3/4 in.)
Overall (marble): 45.7 x 50.2 cm (18 x 19 3/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Margarett Sargent McKean
Accession number1973.140
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
Born in Belarus, Zadkine went to art school in Britain and spent most of his career in France. Upon arriving in Paris in 1909 he immediately fell in with the intellectual and artistic circle that gave birth to Cubism, forging links that remained with the artist for the rest of his career. In the mid 1920s, as much of the French art world wrestled with the legacy of classicism and its relationship to the modern world, Zadkine produced this very modern, collage-like sculpture in homage to antiquity.
ProvenanceBy 1971, Margarett Williams Sargent McKean (b. 1892 - d. 1978), Boston; 1973, gift of Margarett Williams Sargent McKean to the MFA. (Accession date: February 14, 1973)Copyright© 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
late 14th century
