Musée Zadkine in Les Arques, Lot, France, holds a permanent collection of works, mainly sculptures, by the Russian-French artist Ossip Zadkine.
Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine was born in January 1888 in the city of Vitsebsk in the Russian Empire. Interestingly, at the age of fifteen, he was sent by his father to Sunderland, England, to learn English and ‘good manners’, before moving to London and attending lessons at Regent Street Polytechnic. In 1910 he moved to Paris where he studied for six months at the École des Beaux-Arts. He then joined the Cubist movement, working in that style from 1914 to 1925, before developing his own technique, which was influenced by African and Greek art.
In Paris, Zadkine lived in Montparnasse, where his neighbours included author Henry Miller, who based the character of Borowski in ‘Tropic of Cancer’ on him, and artists Chaïm Soutine and Tsuguharu Foujita.
As well as its permanent collection, Musée Zadkine also holds temporary exhibitions, the current one examining Zadkine’s shared interest with Jean Cocteau in the legend of Orpheus. It is likely that their interest in the legendary figure came from their mutual friend, poet Guillaume Apollinaire who published a collection of poems, illustrated by Raoul Dufy, entitled ‘Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée’ in 1911. Zadkine made at least ten sculptures of Orpheus, whilst Cocteau adapted the story for the stage in 1926 and used it in two films: ‘Orpheus’ (1950) and ‘Testament of Orpheus’ (1960).
Jean Cocteau
Guillaume Apollinaire (ill. Raoul Dufy) ‘Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée’ (1911)
Jean Cocteau ‘Orphée. Tragédie en un acte’ (published 1927)
Jean Cocteau ‘Musicien à la lyre’ (1961)
Ossip Zadkine ‘Orphée’ (1960)
From the permanent collection:
Ossip Zadkine ‘La Sainte Famille’ (1912 – 13)
Ossip Zadkine ‘Buste de femme’ (1914)
Ossip Zadkine ‘Trio musical’ (1930)
Ossip Zadkine ‘La Prisonnière’ (1943)
Ossip Zadkine ‘Le Retour de Fils prodique’ (1950)
Ossip Zadkine ‘L’Arbre des Grâces’ (1962 – 63)
The Diary of One Who Disappeared 