1887–1964
Alexander Archipenko
Innovator of modern sculpture
Can a hole be part of a sculpture? Kyiv-born Alexander Archipenko proved it can: he was the first to bring Cubism into sculpture, made the void and the hole part of the form, and influenced modern art in Europe and America.
Key accomplishments
- One of the first to use the void and the hole as an expressive element of sculpture
- One of the first to create “sculpto-painting”, a combination of sculpture and painting
- 118 solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States
Sculpture with empty space
An ordinary sculpture is mass and volume: stone, bronze, bulging forms. Alexander Archipenko did the opposite. He brought holes that pass right through, and hollow forms in place of bulging ones, into sculpture, and empty space became part of the work. His Walking Woman is one example.
He was also the first to use Cubist forms in sculpture. He combined metal, glass, wood and plastic, and in his “sculpto-paintings” he painted reliefs as if they were pictures.
From Kyiv to Paris and New York
Archipenko was born in Kyiv in 1887 and studied at the Kyiv Art School, but he was expelled for taking part in student protests during the revolution of 1905. After studying in Moscow, he moved in 1908 to Paris, then the capital of the avant-garde, and exhibited alongside the Cubists. In 1921 he founded an art school in Berlin, and from 1923 he lived in the United States, where he opened several more schools. In all, he had 118 solo exhibitions.
Why it matters today
Archipenko influenced modern art in Europe and America. He kept up ties with Ukrainian intellectuals in Lviv and Kyiv, made sculpted portraits of Shevchenko and Franko, and in 1933 showed 48 works in the Ukrainian pavilion at the world’s fair in Chicago. His works are held in many museums around the world, including in Kyiv and Lviv.
