Skip to main content
4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2012.
Geometric Figure No. 1
4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2012.
4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2012.

Geometric Figure No. 1

Artist Alexander Archipenko (Ukrainian, 1887-1964)
Date1914
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 20 x 3 x 4 in. (50.8 x 7.6 x 10.2 cm)
Base: 2 x 8 x 7 3/8 in. (5.1 x 20.3 x 18.7 cm)
ClassificationsAmerican art
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2071
Terms
  • Bronze
  • New York City
On View
On view
DescriptionThis is a small bronze sculpture of a standing geometric figure. Between the combination of free-form organic moldings and man-made geometric angles, the sculpture keeps the eye moving around the figure. The abstract figure gives hints at a female form but the organic, softer edges are often interrupted by sharp angles.

Label TextAlexander Archipenko Ukrainian, 1887–1964 Geometric Figure No. 1, 1914 Bronze Although highly abstracted, it is not hard to recognize Alexander Archipenko’s subject as a female body. As you walk around the sculpture and study it from different angles, graceful lines lead your eye through space. The figure almost seems to turn with you. From every direction, the artist shows us several different aspects of his sitter at once. Archipenko adopted this technique from Picasso and the other Cubist artists he met in Paris, where he moved in 1908. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2071