The Cleveland Cultural Gardens present artist Alexander Archipenko!! Happy Birthday Alexander!
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko was born 30 May 1887 in Kyiv, Ukraine. He was an avant-garde artist, sculptor and graphic artist. He had originated a new style in which the representation of the human figure was subordinated to the formal composition of open spaces and solids. Archipenko's abstract shapes had a primitive vitality and rhythmic movement.
From 1902-1905, he attended the Kyiv Art School. In the same time he had an exhibition in Kyiv, together with Alexander Bogomazov. Archipenko moved briefly to Moscow, where he had a chance to exhibit his work in some group shows.
After studying in Kyiv, in 1908 Archipenko briefly attended the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, but he quickly abandoned formal studies to become part of more radical circles,
especially the Cubist movement. He became a resident in the artist's Colony La
Ruche, among émigré Russian artists: Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, Sonia Delaunay-Terk and
Nathan Altman.
One of the first examples of influence on Archipenko was the revolutionary sculpture is Picasso’s “Woman’s Head” (1909). The sculptor no longer relied upon traditional methods of sculpture or upon his sensory experience of the body. Also Matisse’s head of “Jeanette” (1910–11)partakes of a personal reproportioning that gives a new vitality to the less mobile areas of the face. Likewise influenced by the Cubists’ manipulation of their subject matter, Alexander Archipenko in his “Woman Combing Her Hair” (1915) rendered the body by means of concavities rather than convexities and replaced the solid head by its silhouette within which there is only space.
Archipenko began to explore the interplay between interlocking voids and solids and between convex and concave surfaces, forming a sculptural equivalent to Cubist paintings’ overlapping planes and, in the process, revolutionizing modern sculpture. In some of his bronze sculpturs, for example, he pierced holes in the face and torso of the figure and substituted concavities for the convexities of the lower legs. The abstract shapes of his works have a rhythmic movement that also reflect contemporary interest in the arts of Africa.
As he developed his style, Archipenko achieved an incredible sense of vitality out of
minimal means: in works such as Boxing Match (1913), he conveyed the raw, brutal energy
of the sport in nonrepresentational, machine-like cubic and ovoid forms. About 1912,
inspired by the Cubist collages of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Archipenko
introduced the concept of collage in sculpture in his famous Medrano series, depictions
of circus figures in multicoloured glass, wood, and metal that defy traditional use of
materials and definitions of sculpture. During that same period he further defied
tradition in his “sculpto-paintings,” works in which he introduced painted colour to the
intersecting planes of his sculpture.
After 1910 Alexander Archipenko had exhibitions at Salon des Independants, Salon
d'Automne together with Aleksandra Ekster, Kazimir Malevich, Vadym Meller, Sonia Delaunay
(Terk) alongside Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Andre Derain.
Archipenko taught art briefly in Berlin from 1921 to 1923. In 1922, Archipenko participated in the First Russian Art Exhibition in the Gallery van Diemen in Berlin together with Aleksandra Ekster, Kazimir Malevich, Solomon Nikritin, El Lissitzky and others.
In 1923 he emigrated to USA and in 1929, took American citizenship..He worked as an art teacher in New York City, then for a short time (1937–39) he was connected with the New Bauhaus in Chicago. In 1933 he exhibited at the Ukrainian pavilion in Chicago as part of the Century of Progress World's Fair. Alexander Archipenko contributed the most to the success of the Ukrainian pavilion.
In 1936 Archipenko participated in an exhibition Cubism and Abstract Art in New York,
numerous exhibitions in Europe and US. He also took part in group exhibition, “American Sculpture”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also at this time was commissioned to create the sculptures for the Ukrainian Cultural Garden in Cleveland, Ohio. He created busts of Taras Shevchenko-- Ukrainian bard and poet, Ivan Franko-- a poet and folklorist and Volodymyr Velikiy (Vladimir the Great) the ruler of Ukraine who baptised the nation in 988 into Orthodox Christianity. The local Ukrainian community is very proud to have Archipenko's important work displayed here in Cleveland.
Archipenko also taught at Carmel Institute of Art, California, at the University of Washington, Seattle,
and at the University of Delaware. He continued to make sculptures, although he never again achieved the success and influence of his Cubist years. In 1960, he published a book called "Fifty Creative Years".
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko died on February 25, 1964.
Sources: Wikipedia, Alexander Archipenko offical websites, Cleveland Memory Project
From 1902-1905, he attended the Kyiv Art School. In the same time he had an exhibition in Kyiv, together with Alexander Bogomazov. Archipenko moved briefly to Moscow, where he had a chance to exhibit his work in some group shows.
After studying in Kyiv, in 1908 Archipenko briefly attended the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, but he quickly abandoned formal studies to become part of more radical circles,
especially the Cubist movement. He became a resident in the artist's Colony La
Ruche, among émigré Russian artists: Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, Sonia Delaunay-Terk and
Nathan Altman.
One of the first examples of influence on Archipenko was the revolutionary sculpture is Picasso’s “Woman’s Head” (1909). The sculptor no longer relied upon traditional methods of sculpture or upon his sensory experience of the body. Also Matisse’s head of “Jeanette” (1910–11)partakes of a personal reproportioning that gives a new vitality to the less mobile areas of the face. Likewise influenced by the Cubists’ manipulation of their subject matter, Alexander Archipenko in his “Woman Combing Her Hair” (1915) rendered the body by means of concavities rather than convexities and replaced the solid head by its silhouette within which there is only space.
Archipenko began to explore the interplay between interlocking voids and solids and between convex and concave surfaces, forming a sculptural equivalent to Cubist paintings’ overlapping planes and, in the process, revolutionizing modern sculpture. In some of his bronze sculpturs, for example, he pierced holes in the face and torso of the figure and substituted concavities for the convexities of the lower legs. The abstract shapes of his works have a rhythmic movement that also reflect contemporary interest in the arts of Africa.
As he developed his style, Archipenko achieved an incredible sense of vitality out of
minimal means: in works such as Boxing Match (1913), he conveyed the raw, brutal energy
of the sport in nonrepresentational, machine-like cubic and ovoid forms. About 1912,
inspired by the Cubist collages of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Archipenko
introduced the concept of collage in sculpture in his famous Medrano series, depictions
of circus figures in multicoloured glass, wood, and metal that defy traditional use of
materials and definitions of sculpture. During that same period he further defied
tradition in his “sculpto-paintings,” works in which he introduced painted colour to the
intersecting planes of his sculpture.
After 1910 Alexander Archipenko had exhibitions at Salon des Independants, Salon
d'Automne together with Aleksandra Ekster, Kazimir Malevich, Vadym Meller, Sonia Delaunay
(Terk) alongside Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Andre Derain.
Archipenko taught art briefly in Berlin from 1921 to 1923. In 1922, Archipenko participated in the First Russian Art Exhibition in the Gallery van Diemen in Berlin together with Aleksandra Ekster, Kazimir Malevich, Solomon Nikritin, El Lissitzky and others.
In 1923 he emigrated to USA and in 1929, took American citizenship..He worked as an art teacher in New York City, then for a short time (1937–39) he was connected with the New Bauhaus in Chicago. In 1933 he exhibited at the Ukrainian pavilion in Chicago as part of the Century of Progress World's Fair. Alexander Archipenko contributed the most to the success of the Ukrainian pavilion.
In 1936 Archipenko participated in an exhibition Cubism and Abstract Art in New York,
numerous exhibitions in Europe and US. He also took part in group exhibition, “American Sculpture”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also at this time was commissioned to create the sculptures for the Ukrainian Cultural Garden in Cleveland, Ohio. He created busts of Taras Shevchenko-- Ukrainian bard and poet, Ivan Franko-- a poet and folklorist and Volodymyr Velikiy (Vladimir the Great) the ruler of Ukraine who baptised the nation in 988 into Orthodox Christianity. The local Ukrainian community is very proud to have Archipenko's important work displayed here in Cleveland.
Archipenko also taught at Carmel Institute of Art, California, at the University of Washington, Seattle,
and at the University of Delaware. He continued to make sculptures, although he never again achieved the success and influence of his Cubist years. In 1960, he published a book called "Fifty Creative Years".
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko died on February 25, 1964.
Sources: Wikipedia, Alexander Archipenko offical websites, Cleveland Memory Project
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