+ Expand

Dimensions: measurements length: 55 in. alternate measurements 139.8 cm

+ Expand

Literature: Sylvain Lecombre, Ossip Zadkine, L'oeuvre sculpté, Paris, 1994, no. 378, illustration of another cast p. 413

+ Expand

Notes: This work is recorded in the archives of the Musée Zadkine, Paris.
Zadkine's sculpture oeuvre is marked by a preoccupation with the pagan times of the Classical period. His innate fascination with these early examples of sculpture often led him to explore mythical subject matter. Statue pour jardin is inspired by a sculpture from Hadrian's Villa in Rome which was of particular interest to Zadkine (see fig. 1). This spectrum of Neo-Classical interpretations is often referred to as the artist's "mythological cycle." Ionel Jianou writes of the significance of this theme to the artist, "The mythological cycle is a long one; it includes a great number of sculptures scattered over more than a half-century, and it is highlighted by more than a few masterpieces. Originally, myths reflected a certain way of conceiving of the world, in which the time element appeared to be reversible. The return to origins achieved by mythical rituals enabled man to capture the meaning of the genesis, and this knowledge conferred upon him a kind of mastery over things" (Ionel Jianou, Zadkine, Paris, 1964, p. 57). Fig. 1 Classical sculpture at Hadrian's villa, Rome