Biography
Peter Kapschutschenko, also referred to as Petro Kapschutschenko or Pedro Enko, was a Ukrainian and American avant-garde artist and sculptor. Among his many works are the bronze monuments of Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky and St. Olga of Kiev (1983 and 1987 respectively) which stand on the grounds of St. Andrew Memorial Church (South Bound Brook, New Jersey).
Kapschutschenko studied sculpture in his hometown at the Dinpropetrovsk Fine Arts Institute in Ukraine. In 1941, at the age of 26, he was taken to a forced labor camp in Germany during the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. After the war he remained in a Displaced Persons Camp in Regensburg, Germany until 1949, when he resettled in Argentina. Known as Pedro Enko in Argentina, Kapschutschenko continued making sculpture and was appointed Honorary Member of the "Universidad Libre de Humanidades de Buenos Aires" for his outstanding contributions to the culture of Argentina.
In 1963 Kapschutschenko, together with his wife Zoja and daughter Ludmila, relocated to Philadelphia. Teaching at the Ukrainian Art Studio in Philadelphia, his reputation grew and by the 1990s his sculpture had been shown in dozens of exhibitions throughout North America. Following Ukrainian Independence, Kapschutschenko held a series of solo exhibitions at museums in Ukraine including those at the National University Ostroh Academy, and the National Museum Taras Shevchenko. In 2005, he was awarded the Ukrainian Presidential Order of Merit by President Viktor Yushchenko.
Kapschutschenko created approximately 7,000 works in terra cotta, bronze and porcelain, among other media. Throughout his career Kapschutschenko focused on Ukrainian motifs in his work, often portraying simple tableaus and rituals of Cossack life. In addition to his table-top work, Kapschutschenko created sculptural monuments to many important Ukrainian figures including Ivan Mazepa, Taras Shevchenko and Olga of Keiv. Kapschutschenko's heavily modeled expressionistic forms and lyrical gestures remain strongly evocative of the struggle and resilience of the Ukrainian people.
