King Solomon

Copied Alexander Archipenko, King Solomon, modeled 1963, cast 1966, bronze, 26 3⁄4 x 11 1⁄8 x 11 in. (67.8 x 28.4 x 28.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Frances Archipenko Gray and Donald H. Karshan, 1968.6

Artwork Details

Title
King Solomon
Artist
Date
modeled 1963, cast 1966
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
26 3⁄4 x 11 1⁄8 x 11 in. (67.8 x 28.4 x 28.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Frances Archipenko Gray and Donald H. Karshan
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
  • Religion — Old Testament — Solomon
Object Number
1968.6
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1968.6

Artwork Description

King Solomon was the last sculpture that Alexander Archipenko made and the only one that he conceived as a monumental sculpture. Throughout his career, Archipenko experimented with positive and negative space in his sculptures, often using voids or holes to suggest form. In King Solomon, he placed abstract shapes together to create the vague shape of a figure. The tall prongs at the top evoke a crown, and the intersecting triangles suggest an imposing archaic costume. Archipenko captured a dramatic sense of scale, and it is easy to imagine how formidable this figure would be if enlarged to the sixty-foot-tall version that the artist envisioned.