Meditate with Ossip Zadkine

“Proud as a peacock”. The popular adage says so. And the Franco-Belarusian artist Ossip Zadkine shows it to us. But there’s not much talk of a peacock here. If the body is indeed that of a bird which elegantly gathers its wings behind its back, the posture of the creature is much more human.

Standing, covered in gold leaf, she holds her head high and her chest proud. Are we dealing with an ancient idol or the distant evocation of the divine breath which spreads over heads like a dove?

Zadkine participated in the search for a new beauty of Art Deco, simplifying forms and boldly playing with perspectives and materials. On the facades of hotels or theaters or in the comfort of social lounges, stylized exterior and interior architecture elegantly inhabits sculptures, stained glass windows, tapestries and ceramics. Greek art and Romanesque art also inspire Zadkine, pushing him towards purity in his artistic gesture. Of Jewish origin and becoming an Orthodox Christian, the man had to flee to New York in the face of the rise of Nazism and its share of vain and destructive idols. The golden bird seems to stand up to them alone. Until they collapse for good.