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
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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
- Religion — Old Testament — Solomon
- Abstract
- Object Number
- 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.