Alexander Archipenko

Alexander Archipenko began his art studies in his native Russia, moving to Paris in 1908. There he was introduced to Cubism by the sculptor Fernand Leger and began creating abstract figures from geometric forms. He moved to America in 1923 where he helped found the Ecole d’Art in New York, then went on to teach at the Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles and Mills College, Oakland. He later relocated to New York and opened his own school. Archipenko was a committed teacher and pioneering modernist sculptor of abstract human forms. He authored eight monographs.

Archipenko exhibited work at the Seattle Art Museum in 1927 and 1933. In 1936 and 1952 he exhibited at the University of Washington Art Gallery. He taught at UW in 1937 and 1951 where he was also a visiting lecturer in 1935, 1936, and 1956.