Alexander Porfiryevich Archipenko

From Freepedia

Alexander (Aleksander) Porfiryevich Archipenko (1887 - 1964) was a Russian-born U.S. sculptor and graphic artist. Alexander Archipenko was born in Kiev. In 1902-1905 attended the Kiev Art School (KKHU). In 1906 he was a student in the studio of S. Swyatoslavsky in Kiev. In the same year he moved to Moscow, and in 1908 he moved to Paris. In 1909-1914 he was a resident in the artist's colony La Ruche, among emigre Russian artists: Baranoff-Rossine, S. Delaunay and Altman. After 1910 Archipenko had exhibits at Salon des Independants together with Ekster, Malevich, Meller, S. Delaunay and others. In 1912 Archipenko had his first personal exhibition at the Museum Folkwang in Hagen. From 1912 to 1914 Archipenko was teaching at his own Art College in Paris. In 1913 Archipenko's works appeared at the Armory Show in New York. In 1914 he moved to Nice. In 1921 he started his own College in Berlin. In 1922 Alexander Archipenko participated in the First Russian Art Exhibition in the Gallery van Diemen in Berlin together with Ekster, Malevich, Nikritin, Lissitsky and others. In 1923 he emigrated to USA. In 1929 he took American citizenship. In 1923 Archipenko participated in an exhibition of "Russian Paintings and Sculpture". In 1934 he designed the Ukrainian pavilion in Chicago. In 1936 Archipenko participated in an exhibition of Cubism and Abstract Art in New York. Alexander Archipenko on Feb. 25, 1964 died in New York, N. Y.

Associated with the cubist movement, he departed from the classical sculpture design of his time and used negative space to create a new way of looking at the human figure, showing a number of views of the subject simultaneously. He also mixed various materials in his work, devising 'sculpto-paintings' and later experimenting with materials such as clear acrylic and terra cotta.

Chronology:

• Ukraine 1887-1905
• Moscow 1906-1908
• Paris 1908-1914
• Nice 1914-1918
• Paris 1918-1921
• Berlin 1921-1923
• USA 1923-1964, including periods at his own studio in Bearsville, New York, and at the New Bauhaus in Chicago