Antwerp museum hosts exhibition highlighting sculptor Ossip Zadkine's ties to Belgium

The Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Anvers (KMSKA) in Antwerp is hosting an exhibition that explores the historical connection between the Belgian art scene and the modern sculptor Ossip Zadkine.

The exhibition features sculptures, drawings, and engravings by Zadkine, who was born in 1888 in Vitebsk, a city in present-day Belarus. The display includes 50 works on loan from the Musée Zadkine in Paris, which is located in the sculptor's former studio home.

The curators organized the show to show how Belgian collectors and institutions supported Zadkine during a period when he struggled to sell his work in France. Zadkine established professional relationships with Belgian galleries and artists during the early 20th century. He exhibited regularly at the galerie Centaure until 1931 and held his first major institutional exhibition in 1933 at the Palais des Beaux-arts in Brussels.

The exhibition also displays works by Flemish expressionists like Gustave De Smet and Jozef Cantré, who were friends of the sculptor. The collection features diverse pieces ranging from early wood sculptures to neo-cubist works. It also includes Zadkine's famous pieces about war, such as La ville détruite, which depicts a body reacting to the bombings of Rotterdam and Le Havre. The show also features paintings by Zadkine's wife, Valentine Prax, whose work was previously overshadowed by her husband's fame.