Pevsner, Antoine, << PEHVZ nuhr, ahn TWON >> (1886-1962), was a Russian-born painter and sculptor. He was the older brother of sculptor Naum Gabo. Pevsner is associated with a Soviet art movement of the 1920’s called constructivism. He was influenced by cubist painters and by the sculptor Alexander Archipenko, whom he met in Paris in 1911.
Pevsner painted until 1923, when he turned to sculpture, perhaps because of the influence of his brother. One of Pevsner’s best-known early sculptures is a 1926 portrait of artist Marcel Duchamp made of blades of metal and transparent plastic. In his later work, Pevsner formed bronze, brass, and copper constructions with deep hollows that unite light and space.
Pevsner was born on Jan. 18, 1886, in Orel, Russia. He settled permanently in Paris in 1923. Pevsner died on April 12, 1962.
