In the Cafe (Woman with Cup) 1915

This mysterious planar sculpture, "In the Cafe (Woman with Cup)" was made by Olexandr Archipenko, but the date is unknown. Imagine Archipenko piecing together this puzzle of form and space. It's like he’s building a new kind of reality, bit by bit. The woman is in a cafe but the artist has captured her essence through abstraction. It's as if he is building a world out of shapes, with the colours giving a real sense of depth. The planes are smooth and hard-edged, a world away from the messy brushstrokes of some other artists. The woman and the cafe almost become one, a real blend of figure and place, as Archipenko uses geometric form to try and capture something of the modern experience. This approach is found in Picasso and Braque, where new ways of seeing reality are explored through form and colour. It's as if they're all speaking to each other across time and space, each pushing the boundaries of what painting and sculpture can be. The piece is deeply evocative and makes you feel the artist's creative energy.