At lower right: Archipenko

American Artists from the Russian Empire. 2008–2009. No. 39 (ill., p. 165).

Surrealist ideas and images are a notable element of Arkhipenko’s American period. His easel paintings and graphic work no longer repeat themes of one or another sculpture, as was the case in the 1920s, but rather stand as independent variants in which sculptural qualities are rendered by painterly means. “In creating paintings, I cannot avoid the expression of three-dimensionality,” the sculptor said. His way of conveying volume and depth on the painted surface was, he believed, a result of his use of the contrasting possibilities of color itself. 

This is a vivid example of such a “volume” painting. It is built on the juxtaposition of bright figures in red and the dark background. The sculptor concentrates his attention on the plastic values of the painting, deliberately eschewing the development of the faces.