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The Ray

Alexander Archipenko

European Art

Alexander Archipenko first conceived this work’s form—an elongated, abstracted figure of a woman—about 1918. He explored the figure numerous times in several variations and media, sometimes calling it “Vase” or “Vase Woman” and other times “Ray,” recognizing the flexibility of perception, as well as the relationship between animate and inanimate forms.
MEDIUM Bronze with green patina
  • Place Made: Europe
  • DATES 1920s
    DIMENSIONS Total height: 74 in., 215 lb. (188 cm, 97.52kg) Sculpture: 63 x 9 x 6 in., 59 lb. (160 x 22.9 x 15.2 cm, 26.76kg) base (Base): 11 x 14 x 14 in., 156 lb. (27.9 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm, 70.76kg)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Proper left side, self base, edition number: "6/6"
    SIGNATURE Signed proper left side, self base: "Archipenko"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 2004.37.1a-b
    CREDIT LINE Gift of The Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation
    PROVENANCE 1964, inherited from the artist by Frances Archipenko Gray; 1968, purchased from Frances Archipenko Gray by Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver of New York, NY; June 17, 2004, gift of the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation to the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION a=sculpture; b=base.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Alexander Archipenko (Kyiv, present–day Ukraine (former Russian Empire), 1887 – 1964, New York, New York). The Ray, 1920s. Bronze with green patina, Total height: 74 in., 215 lb. (188 cm, 97.52kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation, 2004.37.1a-b. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2004.37.1_front_PS6.jpg)
    EDITION Edition: 6/6
    IMAGE front, 2004.37.1_front_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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