At home among strangers, a stranger among friends. Many emigrants from Russia suffered such a fate, especially after the 1917 revolution. The sculptor Alexander Archipenko, despite the fact that he left Russia at the age of 21, will be considered Russian for a long time, thanks to the special Russian mentality. He will live the last 40 years of his life in America, but will never be able to combine creativity with commodity-money relations.
Childhood
The future avant-garde artist was born in Kyiv in 1887 in the Russian Empire. The love for art was instilled in the boy by his family. Father Porfiry Antonovich Archipenko was a professor of mechanics at Kyiv University. Maternal grandfather painted icons. It was the grandfather who told his grandson about art and painting for a long time. Little Sasha liked to look at his grandfather's work. His father, fascinated by technological progress, developed Sasha's interest in various mechanisms.
Once Porfiry Antonovich brought home two identical flower vases,bought for the occasion. The boy put the vases side by side, and suddenly magic happened: he saw a third vase, which was formed by a void between two vases. This discovery impressed Alexander Archipenko so much that it would form the basis of his work. He will be the pioneer of the art of emptiness, which will fascinate many art lovers.
Rebel
Shortly tormented between the choice of painting or mathematics, in 1902 he entered the Kiev Art College. Alexander Archipenko was closely within the framework of the classical and conservative education that was presented in the educational institution. He did not hide his creative impulses, which gravitated towards novelty. Avant-gardism, which has become something ordinary in Europe, was perceived by Kyiv teachers of the old school as something absurd.
Besides, the school had rules and regulations obliging students to undergo confession and communion in the church. After that, they had to submit certificates signed by the university archpriest about the passage of the sacrament of repentance and communion. Alexander lacked creative freedom. And he, as is typical of hot youth, openly opposed the archaic order. Due to harsh remarks about the teaching staff in 1905, Alexander Archipenko was expelled from the school after three years of study.
First exhibition and first spectator - policeman
For a year now, as a young man was in free flight, after being expelled from the school. Once a landowner from near Kyiv orderedAlexander Archipenko sculpture. The 19-year-old artist was not limited by the requirements of the customer, and therefore his imagination created a work called The Thinker. In his grotesque manner, Archipenko sculpted a seated male figure, immersed in thought. The sculpture was made of terracotta, for greater artistic expression, covered with red paint.
The young artist exhibited his work in a rural shop, which was located near the landowner's estate. On the doors of the impromptu exhibition hall was an announcement by the author that workers and peasants could look at the sculpture for less money. A local policeman became interested in an unusual event for a quiet village life. Surprised by the inscription on the door of the store, he saw a sculpture, the red color of which led him to symbolic associations. But it worked out well for the young man.
Farewell, native penates
The young artist did not stay long in Kyiv, but went to Moscow to continue his education. There, studying at a private art studio, he met the same young seeking artists Vladimir Baranov-Rossin, Nathan Altman, Sonia Delaunay-Turk. But the capital could not satisfy the creative thirst of Alexander Archipenko. The classics were of no interest to him. The real forge of avant-garde art was far away in Europe.
In 1908, young people decide to go to Paris. There they settled in the artistic colony La Ruche ("Beehive"). Paris impressed a young man, herehe seemed to have found what he was looking for: freedom of expression of creative potential, like-minded people, an appreciative audience. But he could only study with overseas teachers for two weeks, and then he began to study art on his own, visiting museums and studying the work of artists.
Talent recognition
The extraordinary talent of Alexander Archipenko was noticed and appreciated by lovers of contemporary art. His ability to combine, at first glance, incompatible things and materials, at the same time led to bewilderment and admiration. In his works, the sculptor skillfully combined wood, metal, wire, glass, etc. In Paris, Archipenko will develop his own inimitably recognizable style: the sculptures will definitely contain voids that give an additional image. In 1910, in Montparnasse, he rented a workshop for himself, and in 1912 he opened his own art school.
The indisputable authority in creative circles Guillaume Apollinaire will be interested in the works of the Russian artist. His assessment is the highest sentence. Apollinaire was delighted with the works of Archipenko, and was merciless towards the critics of his work. At this time, the sculptor creates a number of works: "Adam and Eve", "Woman", "Seated Black Torso". In these works one can feel the artist's craving for archaism. Later, he becomes interested in experiments in the use of various materials and develops the concept of three-dimensional cubism. The creative search resulted in the works "Medrano-1", "Medrano-2", "Head" and "Carousel and Pierrot".
Creative take off
The interest of the public and professionals in the work of AlexanderArchipenko was fueled by the constant participation of the artist in various exhibitions. Every year his work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne in Paris. The sculptures were presented at the Golden Section exhibitions in Paris, at the Armory Show in New York. His works were exhibited in Rome, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Brussels, Amsterdam. At this time, catalogs with the works of Alexander Archipenko were published. The photos were provided with comments by G. Apollinaire himself.
From 1914 to 1918, the sculptor lived in Nice, where he developed a new type of work - sculpture-painting: a combination of three-dimensional sculpture with a flat picturesque background. The works “Spanish Woman”, “Still Life with a Vase” belong to this period. In 1921, he marries Angelika Schmitz, who was also a sculptor. He moved to his wife's homeland in Berlin, where the public was familiar with his work. There he opens a school with money raised in an unexpected way at the Venice Biennale.
God vs
In 1920, works were needed for the Venice Biennale, in connection with which a set was announced. There was a problem with filling the Russian pavilion, who will deal with it, in Russia at that time the civil war was in full swing. Sergei Diaghilev, a recognized authority in art management and ballet, undertook this work. Emigrants from Russia exhibited in the salon. The artists themselves did not fully understand what country they represented. This exhibition also featured works by Alexander Porfiryevich Arkhipenko, which made a mixed impression on critics.
Some Italian newspapers openly ridiculed the sculptor's work. And the Catholic Patriarch of Venice, Pietro La Fontaine, issued a directive forbidding believers to visit the devil's smithy. The result was just the opposite: the people poured into the exhibition of works by Archipenko. Thus, the sculptor was able to earn enough money to open a school in Berlin and finally leave for the USA in 1923.
America
In America, Alexander Archipenko will also be popular, but mainly as an art teacher. Despite the fact that he will earn a living by teaching, 150 exhibitions of his work will be organized over 40 years. In addition to the fact that the artist must have direct artistic talent, in America he must also have commercial talent in order to be successful. Apparently, the sculptor under study did not possess it.
There is an illustrative case in Alexander Archipenko's biography. The director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York offered mutually beneficial cooperation. If it took place, then Arkhipenko could make good money on his work. But this did not happen due to confusion with the dates of the works. The museum needed early works that were scattered throughout Europe and Russia. The sculptor created their replicas, but the museum did not like it. Arkhipenko could not collect his early works, and the correspondence with the director of the museum turned into an altercation with the use of harsh expressions, which led to a final break.relations.
The master of cubism died in 1964 and was buried at Woodon Cemetery in the Bronx. The works of Alexander Archipenko are in many museums around the world.
