Ossip Zadkine

Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967) is considered to be one of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century. He was born in Vitebsk in Belarus. He established himself in Paris in 1910. He eventually became a naturalized French citizen in 1921. That is where he became acquainted with modern art, to which he himself contributed from 1911 with primitive sculptures in stone and wood. Under the influence of Cubism he developed a completely unique style, beginning in the 1920s. During the 1930s his style became ever more dynamic and baroque. During World War II he was exiled in the United States, where his reputation kept growing. After 1945 his expressive sculptures show the resilience of Europe’s reconstruction, giving unique form to Europe’s new ideals.