125
●
ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO
White Torso
.
Terra-cotta, circa 1916-45. 520 mm; 20
1
/
2
inches (height, excluding base). Signed“Archipenko”
lower verso near the base.
This scupture has been authenticated by the Archipenko Foundation, Bearsville, NewYork,
September 26, 2013, and will be included in the sculpture catalogue riasonné.
Ukrainian-born sculptor Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964) moved to Paris in 1908 and
became a member of the Cubist group surrounding the Duchamp brothers, and was the second
artist (after Picasso) to experiment with the tenets of Cubism in sculpture. Walter Pach chose
the four sculptures that would be featured in the Armory Show during a visit to Archipenko’s
studio in 1912.
Archipenko exhibited 5 works in the Amory Show, including four plasters and one group of
drawings (the drawings were purchased byAlfred Stieglitz for $135; or $3,190 today).His plasters
were priced anywhere from $216 (approximately $5,100 today) up to $2,700 for
LaVie familiale
(nearly $63,800 today), yet none of them managed to sell at the show.
The elongated, streamlined shape of
White Torso
exists in stark contrast to Archipenko’s most
talked about work of the show,
Le Repos
, a voluptuous nude with her arm framing her face
above her head, à la Matisse’s
Blue Nude
, 1907.
[40,000/60,000]
