A stay in England

1905-1910 "Go, my child, your path does not lie in these parts"

In 1905 his parents sent him to Sunderland, in the north-east of England, to a certain "Uncle John" who enrolled him in the local art school and introduced him to woodcarving.

In 1906 the teenager joined a friend in London without the agreement of his father who cut off his funds. He enrolled for evening classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic, and spent every Sunday in the British Museum. In order to survive, he worked for furniture craftsmen in the East End - he was given ornaments to carve.

With the benefit of this apprenticeship, he produced his first sculptures using the direct carving method – Head of a Hero in granite, 1908 – during a summer break in Russia. "The prodigal son” had in fact found the way back to the family home and reconciliation. His father made the decision to send him to Paris, "where you can become a sculptor". In the autumn of 1910 Zadkine settled into a hotel in the Latin Quarter.