King Solomon (1968)

by Alexander Archipenko (1887 - 1964)

Photo Caption: Photo Alec Rogers © 2014 for the Association for Public Art
  • Title

    King Solomon

  • Artist

    Alexander Archipenko (1887 - 1964)

  • Year

    1968; installed 1985

  • Location

    University of Pennsylvania, 36th Street Walkway south of Walnut Street

  • Medium

    Bronze, on blue stone base

  • Dimensions

    Height 14’6″, width 7', depth 5'7" (base height 3″, width 8'10 1/2", depth 7'7 1/2")

On loan to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Loria

At A Glance

  • On extended loan from Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Loria, the parents of a Penn student

  • Suggests an Old Testament monarch in a forceful stance with one foot forward, dressed in a robe

  • The hard angles and hollow curved spaces recalls the artist’s Cubist origins

The influential Cubist sculptor Alexander Archipenko did not normally work on a monumental scale. But shortly before his death in 1964 he completed a 4-foot King Solomon that was designed for enlargement. Instructions were left with his widow, who supervised the casting of a 14.5-foot, 1.5-ton version in 1968. In 1985 this majestic bronze came to the University of Pennsylvania campus on extended loan from Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Loria, the parents of a Penn student. Mixing hard angles with hollow curved spaces, King Solomon clearly recalls Archipenko’s Cubist origins. The sculpture suggests a figure of the Old Testament monarch dressed in a robe, posed in a forceful stance with one foot forward.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

King Solomon sculpture
Photo Alec Rogers © 2014 for the Association for Public Art

This artwork is part of the Around University City tour

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