Ossip Joselyn Zadkine (1890-1967), a Russian sculptor and teacher, was one of the most adventurous and inventive cubist sculptors.

Ossip Zadkine was born in Smolensk, where his father was a professor of ancient languages. When he was 16, Zadkine went to London to study art. Three years later he went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, but, disenchanted with its rigidly academic approach, he left and opened his own studio. He served in the French army during World War I.

Zadkine's first one-man show took place in Brussels in 1919. The following year he married, and in 1921 he became a French citizen. By 1924 he had acquired an international reputation. In 1932 he received an important commission to carve relief panels for public buildings in Poissy, Paris, and Brussels.

Zadkine lived in New York City from 1941 to 1945, teaching at the Art Students' League. He participated in the influential...