Alexander Porfiryevich Archipenko (1887 - 1964) was a sculptor and graphic artist born in Kiev, Ukraine.
Associated with the cubist movement, Archipenko 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 is known for introducing sculptural voids, and his inventive mixing of genres all through his career: devising 'sculpto-paintings', and later experimenting with materials such as clear acrylic and terra cotta.
In 1902-1905 he 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: Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, Sonia Delaunay-Terk and Nathan Altman. 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. 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 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. 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 died on Feb. 25, 1964 in New York.
