Ossip Zadkine

OSSIP ZADKINE (Vitebsk, Belarus, 1888 - Paris, 1967).
"Character with guitar", 1950.
Thick pencil on paper.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 31.5 x 24 cm; 42 x 31.5 cm (frame).

A Russian sculptor who worked in a largely cubist style, Ossip Zadnike moved to London in 1906, at the age of 18. There he enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic while working as a wood trim carver. He returned to Russia two years later and made his first sculptures. In 1909, Ossip traveled to Paris and studied briefly at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He began to create Cubist-style artworks following his association with French avant-garde artists. In the French capital he exhibited his works at the Salon d'Automne, the Allied Artists Association and the Salon des Independants. He moved to the United States in 1939 and taught at the Arts Students League in New York. Ossip returned to France in 1945 and continued to exhibit. He was awarded the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale.