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Born in 1964 and raised in
Moscow
, Anton Arkhipov descends from a genealogical tree of several
generations of artists, musicians and actors.
His father, Michail Arkhipov, a well-known dissident artist,
belonged to a group of artists of the rough style from the 1950's-70's.
His mother, Tatiana Vtorova, an impressionist artist, descends
from a famous dynasty of Russian artists, sculptors, and architects such
as A. Benua, E. Lancere, Z. Serebryakova.
Anton was brought up in an artistic environment where various
schools and trends from Russian Realism of the 19th century to 20th
century Avant-garde and Contemporary art were represented.
Educated at the Surikov College of Fine Arts in
Moscow
, Anton advanced with a promising talent learning skills in drawing,
painting, plastic anatomy, and the history of art. Throughout his
education Arkhipov’s fascination and influences evolved from the
Impressionist masters, particularly Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, and
Claude Monet to the Russian Avant-garde artists of the 1920’s and
30’s. He graduated as one of the top students in his class from the
Surikov College of Fine Arts in
Moscow
.
Arkhipov showed his paintings in government-sponsored, formal social
realist exhibitions until 1987 when he began to show nontraditional work
in “underground” exhibitions with a young group of artists called
“Kovcheg” (
Ark
). During this time, Anton began working on restoring church icons,
murals, and frescoes in search of his own soul and style, free of any
political or popular trends.
As a result, his art became recognized in countries in
Western Europe
,
Italy
,
England
and
Spain
where he had several exhibitions. In 1990, Anton moved to
America
where he has continued to this day to pursue an ever evolving quest of
representing humanity and its undying spirit on canvas, bronze
sculptures and other forms of media.
Today, Anton Arkhipov’s works are shown in many galleries across the
country, and are found in private collections around the world.
Arkhipov's
Autobiographical Statement
 "One
of my first memories is of my very small hand mimicking the movements and
brush strokes of a much larger and more experienced hand. From the
age of three I grew up in my father’s studio painting. He trained
my eye to see color, my hands to draw figures and my spirit to create my
own vision. From a young age, I attended one of the most prestigious
art schools in the world which built the foundation for a successful
career later on. I began showing my paintings in several exhibitions
in
Moscow, and when I was 26 years old, a European art agent discovered me and I
had my first one-man exhibition in Barcelona,
Spain. In 1990, I visited
New York
without any plans to stay but ended up living in
Manhattan
for a year and a half as my career in America began to develop and expand. I
eventually moved to the West Coast and began establishing myself
and my art in a growing number of galleries. From the time I started my
training in my father’s studio, I understood that art is my way of
communicating with the world and my therapy in dealing with the trials of
life; and as a result, I have been fortunate enough to earn a living
painting everyday. As the child of a very old artistic family, I
strictly adhere to the values taught to me. Foremost of those values
has been to be honest with myself and never to compromise as an artist. I
try to paint as a child does, with nothing to prove
and with effortless and honest beauty. I do not dissect or analyze or judge
what I paint nor do I belong to any type of artistic movement.
Furthermore, I do not view my art as a collection of individual paintings
and sculptures but rather as a single piece of art yet to be finished; and time will judge my
efforts, hopefully by human values instead of just artistic values because,
in the end, my art defines my life as a human being and not simply as an
artist. My pieces have always reflected the emotions and spirit
of my life and as of today, I can be bold enough to say that I am
shamelessly happy in both my professional and personal life as one can
surmise. For the past ten years, I have lived with my three dogs, two cats and beautiful wife who endlessly support me
in every endeavor. I paint in a studio which I have filled
with all kinds of books, music and antiques where time has its own realm
and the canvas is my conscience just as it was in the studio where I
followed my father’s hand. I consider it my shrine and spiritual
retreat where I refine my art and myself to be a valuable contribution to
our world."
Anton
Arkhipov
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