La Boxe

In 1908, at the age of twenty, Alexander Archipenko moved to Paris where he met the Cubists Pablo Picasso and George Braque. The “blocky” figurative forms of the early sculptures Archipenko made there display this Cubist influence. Eventually, having started from the principles of analytic Cubism, Archipenko began to move towards the ideas of Italian Futurism around 1914, connecting figure and space and integrating empty spaces into the sculptures. “Boxing Match” which is exhibited here, is exemplary for this. Two contorted, abstract figures form a dynamic arc around a central hole. The strongly stylized figures generate an all-encompassing rhythm which seems to animate the composition and the surrounding space. The smooth, black, shiny surface increases this impression because the reflected light changes according to how YOU move in space. With the articulated dynamism of this sculpture Archipenko succeeded in capturing the brutal energy of this martial art in abstract forms. It is not without reason that Boxing Match is regarded as his most important work and one that he would never surpass.