Architects of Russian Abroad Roman Verhovskoy and Alexis Boldakoff: New Biographic Facts and Joint Projects

Abstract

The article is dedicated to unknown facts and unrenowned events in the life of the famous Russian and American architect, sculptor, and artist Roman Verhovskoy. The new data concern all spheres and periods of his life, from his early years and education to emigration to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later to the USA.The newly identified facts of professional cooperation with the civil engineer and architect Alexis Boldakoff are brought to light, whose name and projects are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Collection and systematization of the material was performed using the method of historiographical analysis. The article uses original sources from the archives of St.-Petersburg, Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, USA), Bakhmeteff Archive of the University of Columbia (New York, USA), and church archives (states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). Personal correspondence of the author with the architect’s relatives, periodicals, art sources, and actual objects were of use as well. The main method in the description and analysis of the monuments was a combination of formal style analysis and art analysis. The research made it possible to clarify the details of the cooperation between Roman Verhovskoy and Alexis Boldakoff, analyze the monuments they constructed, and generalize newly acquired factual information. One of the main results of the study is the most complete reconstruction of the biography of the architect Verhovskoy.