Archipenko, Alexander (1887–1964)

Ukrainian-born abstract sculptor. He pioneered cubist sculpture, producing geometrically stylized forms, as in Woman Combing Her Hair (1915; Tate Gallery, London). He also experimented with polychrome reliefs (which he called ‘sculpto-paintings’), with clear plastics and other materials, and sculptures incorporating lights. These experiments with form, colours, and materials had a profound influence on the development of 20th-century sculpture.

His early works show a fascination with ‘negative form’ (holes and voids). By the early 1920s he was beginning to return to traditional idioms, sculptures such as Silver Torso 1931 (Landesgalerie, Hannover) being notable for their sleek and sinuous classicism.

Archipenko was born in Kiev and studied painting and sculpture there and at Moscow. He moved to France 1908 and opened an art school in Paris 1910. In 1923 he moved to New York and settled permanently in the USA, opening a school of sculpture in Chicago 1937.