Ossip Zadkine - Tête de femme

1930

44 cm high

Lava stone sculpture

 

About this sculpture
Ossip Zadkine - Tête de femme stone sculpture was created in 1930.

In choosing the direct carving technique, Zadkine was honouring the "ancient tradition of stone and wood carvers who went into the woods, heartily singing their dreams of fantastical birds and giant tree trunks" while also reinvigorating sculpture at the dawn of the 20th century. Limestone, granite, alabaster, marble and lava were some of the varied materials Zadkine would use for his stone sculptures. One of the characteristics that sets Zadkine apart is that he was an "all-around" artist who had a complete mastery of traditional artisanal practices and techniques. He understood materials and was familiar with their symbolic and metamorphic power. He could experiment with any kind of transmutation in bronze, wood, stone, marble, terra cotta or plaster.

In this sculpture Zadkine seems to escape the severity associated with the cubist style which, according to the artist, did not leave enough room for human emotion. While some of the pared down geometric codes of cubism are still apparent in the bold shaping which forms the nose and the curve of the eyes, this sculpture conveys above all a striking expressiveness. By carving directly in lava, the artist uncovers convex and concave planes, with depressions and protrusions creating areas of shadow and light. In addition, this sculpture calls to mind the characteristic stylings of Amedeo Modigliani, evoked here by the model's almond-shaped eyes and the imposing nature of the neck or the rendering of the hair, which was found in Modigliani's caryatids. While the two artists shared the same passion for working with stone and the same curiosity for the beauty and nobleness of archaic forms, Ossip Zadkine's predilection for such materials and his intimate relationship with nature came from a childhood spent on the banks of the Dnieper.