Ossip Zadkine
(1890-1967)
Ossip Zadkine was a Russian Jewish sculpture and artist. His early work was inspired by Auguste Rodin along with the Cubists. He later rejected the use of the cubist forms to aquire a unique style, strongly influenced by the primitive arts.
Born in Vitebsk, Belarus in 1890 Zadkine is primarily known for his sculptures, however he also produced a number of paintings, drawings and graphical works throughout his lifetime.
Zadkine attended the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He eventually settled in Paris in 1910 and attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, before dropping out to become a freelance artist. In 1911 he took part in the Salon des Indépendants and became part of the new Cubist movement a year later.
From 1946 to 1958 Zadkine was a lecturer at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In 1950 he won first prize for his sculpture at the Venice Biennale and again in 1960 at the Grand Prix de la Sculpture in Paris.
Ossip Zadkine died in Paris on 25 November 1967.
