Statue on Triangular Base
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Balancing sweeping curves and sharp angles with concave and convex forms, Alexander Archipenko captured the fluid dynamism of an undulating female form. The high polish of the sculpture’s dark surface patina and the absence of detail give it a spirit of refined elegance.
Archipenko spent two years exhibiting in Moscow before arriving in Paris in 1908. By 1912, he was part of the Cubist art circle led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Archipenko was among the first to translate the spatial concerns of Cubist painting into three-dimensional sculptures.
Commissioned from the Sheidow Foundry, Kingwood, WV, by the artist’s widow, Frances Archipenko Gray, 1967 [1];
Purchased from Gray by an unknown private collector, 1967;
Purchased from the private collector by the Weintraub Gallery, New York, by May 12, 1971;
Purchased from Weintraub Gallery by Mr. Louis (1903-1976) and Mrs. Rheta (1905-2003) Sosland, Kansas City, MO, May 12, 1971-1977;
Rheta Sosland’s gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1977.
NOTES:
[1] According to Alexandra Keiser, Research Curator, The Archipenko Foundation, in emails to MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, October 23 and 30, 2017, NAMA curatorial files.
