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Lot Essay
Donald Karshan, the leading authority on Archipenko's career and who also owned this sculpture, described Gruppe as 'Archipenko's most ambitious as well as his largest early carving' (D. Karshan, op. cit., 1985, p. 85, in which he dates this work to 1920). A later example carved circa 1921 was sold by the Artist to Dr. Friedl in 1923 in Prague and a third marble which is known to have been in the collection of the Stadtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, has been lost since the 1930s. In 1921, Archipenko cast Gruppe in faience (last recorded in the collection of the Stadel-Museum, Frankfurt am Main, now lost) but made no bronze examples.
In January 1924 Archipenko exhibited this sculpture at the Société Anonyme, Kingore Gallery, New York, his first one man exhibition in America since leaving Europe in October 1923 with his wife Angelica on the S.S Mongolia (fig. 1). The cause for the move from Berlin seems to have been the worsening economic and social crisis in Europe. The sculpture was well received in America as Gruppe (Feminine Solitude) was included in an exhibition at the Denver Museum in 1927 and at The Anderson Galleries, in New York in 1928.
In January 1924 Archipenko exhibited this sculpture at the Société Anonyme, Kingore Gallery, New York, his first one man exhibition in America since leaving Europe in October 1923 with his wife Angelica on the S.S Mongolia (fig. 1). The cause for the move from Berlin seems to have been the worsening economic and social crisis in Europe. The sculpture was well received in America as Gruppe (Feminine Solitude) was included in an exhibition at the Denver Museum in 1927 and at The Anderson Galleries, in New York in 1928.