Alexander Archipenko
American sculptor and artist of Ukrainian origin (1887–1964)
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (30 May [O.S. 18 May] 1887 – February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles of Cubism to architecture, analyzing human figures into geometrical forms.
Early life and education
Alexander Archipenko was born in Kyiv (Russian Empire, now Ukraine) on 30 May 1887, to Porfiry Antonowych Archipenko and Poroskowia Vassylivna Machowa Archipenko; he was the younger brother of Eugene Archipenko. His father, Porfiry, was an engineer and inventor who worked as a professor at Kyiv University, but also drew icons as a hobby on the side. Porfiry himself likely learned this from his father, who also painted icons. However, the family encouraged Oleksandr to pursue a scientific profession, instead of art. He initially studied at the Gottlieb Walker Men's Gymnasium No. 7 in Kyiv.
On 24 September 1902, Porfiry requested admission for his son, Oleksandr, to the third academic year of the Kyiv Art School (KKhU), which was granted permission to happen. On 12 January 1902, Oleksandr requested permission to transfer to the sculpture department of the Kyiv Art School, which was then granted.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q157578. VIAF identifies the subject as 71544609. The Library of Congress control number is n80014586. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1964 and 1902.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alexander Archipenko” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.