Alexander Archipenko

Estate of the artist
Acquired from the above on April 30, 1968

Roslyn, New York, Nassau County Museum of Art, Long Island Collects: The Figure & Landscape, 1870's-1980's, 1990, n.n.

Alexander Archipenko, Archipenko: Fifty Creative Years, 1908-1958, New York, 1960, illustration of another cast pl. 144
Katherine Jánszjy Michaelsen, Alexander Archipenko: A Study of the Early Works, 1908-1920, New York, 1977, no. S73, illustration of another cast n.p.

The work is in excellent condition. The bronze features a rich black patina. The surface exhibits minor wear consistent with age.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Seated Black Concave, conceived in 1916, epitomizes the theories of the "new concave" that Archipenko developed in 1912. Archipenko created a new way of looking at the human figure through a number of simultaneous views and the combination of positive and negative forms into a new modern whole, symbolizing the absent form and evoking unprecedented dynamism and volume. In this way, Seated Black Concave references Bergson's ideas of the void as a symbol of the absent form: there can be no convex without the concave, and the positive and negative are of equal force. "Thus, the problem of knowledge is complicated, and possibly made insoluble, by the idea that order fills a void and that its actual presence is superimposed on its virtual absence" (Henry Bergson, Creative Evolution, New York, 1913, p. 273).

The sculpture retains a clear geometric character but exudes an organic litheness. The sharp lines of the figure's thighs and hips rise as the sculpture eases into a deep concave form. Still, the classical iconography of the seated nude is not sacrificed.