Soviet Sculptor Sergey Merkurov in the studio at work on the statue of Leo Tolstoy. 1913. Photo from the archives of GS Merkurov

Alexandropol (now Leninakan), where future Soviet Sculptor Sergey Merkurov was born in 1881, is famous for many crafts. Workshops of goldsmiths and copper smiths, carpenters and painters filled the streets of the commercial part of the city. From the ringing, knocking, heat, appeared in front of spectators products, rich in enchanting beauty and diversity of shapes and materials. But stone-cutters work attracted little Sergey most of all. Many months the boy spent with them helping, and finally received permission to carve Nightingale on a branch. “Perfect cutter’s roses smell better than the real ones, and his nightingale song wakes up the sunrise: in the hands of good master stone cutter everything comes to life, in the hands of bad master everything breaks down”, – Sergey was taught.
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Soviet sculptor Andrey Faidysh (1920-1967). Monument ‘In commemoration of the outstanding achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration.’ Detail of relief. Bronze, granite. 1964. Moscow

Soviet sculptor Andrey Faidysh (1920-1967) – Honored Artist of the RSFSR, winner of the Stalin Prize of the first degree (1950) – for the creation of sculptural reliefs “V. Lenin and I. Stalin – the founders and leaders of the Soviet state”; Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR of Repin (1967 – posthumously) – for sculptural portraits of SP Korolyov and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1963-1966) in a series of works devoted to the heroes of the cosmos. Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Arts. The most famous works of the Soviet sculptor – Monument “To the Conquerors of Space” in celebration of outstanding achievements of the Soviet people in space (Moscow, 1964). Andrey Petrovich Faidysh-Krandievsky is the author of such famous monuments in the USSR as: a monument to the heroes of the Civil War in the Far East, a monument to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a monument to the Bryansk guerrillas, portrait of Academician SP Korolev and other monumental works and works of easel sculpture.
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Soviet sculptor Gediminas Jokubonis (1927 – 2006). Monument to the commander of the Civil War Vitovt Putna (31.3.1893 – 12.6.1937) for the city of Moletai, Lithuanian SSR. 1977

Lithuanian Soviet sculptor Gediminas Jokubonis (1927 – 2006) – People’s Artist of the Lithuanian SSR (1977), People’s Artist of the USSR (1987), winner of the Lenin Prize (1963). Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1965. Since 1946, he studied sculpture at the Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts. In 1952 he graduated from Vilnius Art Institute of the Lithuanian SSR (now the Academy of Art). Since 1965 Jokubonis taught at the same institution; Professor (1974), Full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1983). Creativity of Jokubonis is characterized by a tendency to generalized forms of concise, expressive silhouette, a compact composition. His sculpture “Mother of Pirciupiai” refers to the most famous of his works. The memorial ensemble in the village Pirciupiai, 45 km south-west of Vilnius, where German occupiers burned the village, together with its 119 inhabitants in 1944, during the Great Patriotic War. The monument was erected in 1960 and Jokubonis received the State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR, and Lenin Prize in 1963.
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Soviet sculptor Oleg Komov (1932-1994). Monument H. Assad in Damascus on the square in front of the country’s main library, 1984

Soviet sculptor Oleg Komov (1932-1994) – People’s Artist of the USSR (1987), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1988), Professor. Winner of USSR State Prize (1981). Member of the CPSU since 1962. Until the 1970s Komov mainly worked in small sculptures. He is the author of many monuments of prominent figures of Russian culture, vivid historical figures, established in Moscow and other cities of the former USSR. To the work of Komov are characteristic laconic forms, intimacy scale, the proportionality of the viewer and the correctness of the historical context of the architectural environment. The figures of his monuments are usually supplemented by typical historical details or objects. His work – bright, individual pages of national sculpture of the second half of the XX century.
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Soviet Russian sculptor Vladimir Koshelev. Lenin – Tribune. Copper . 1985

Soviet Russian sculptor Vladimir Koshelev – a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR since 1977, People’s Artist of Russia (2005), Professor (2007), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts (Department of Sculpture), 2011. Winner of the All-Union, All-Russian and international competitions on monumental art. He graduated from the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after VI Surikov (1974), a sculpture studio of Professor NV Tomsky and professor MF Baburin. Koshelev – permanent participant of Moscow, regional, national, and international exhibitions since 1960. Solo exhibitions were held in Moscow and other Russian cities. Easel works are represented in more than 20 museums: the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, the State Museum, Orenburg Regional Museum, Penza Picture Gallery, Novokuznetsk Museum of Fine Arts, the Murmansk regional art museum and foreign collections of the Netherlands, the USA, Germany, Italy, Great Britain.
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Soviet sculptor Aleksandr Matveyev (1878–1960). Sculptural composition October. 1927

At the beginning of 1928, Hall of the Central Museum of the Revolution of the USSR officially opened their doors for visitors. There was a jubilee exhibition dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. It was first shown sculptural composition “October” by Soviet sculptor Aleksandr Matveyev (1878–1960), which stood out among the works of their program exposure, with the sharpness of social sound. Brightly and vividly embodied the heroism of the revolution, the work was seen as a symbol of the new era of accomplished changes. The idea of ​​the artist – to show the age-old human dream, the inviolability of the achievements of socialism – grew up in the capacious collective image of the people and their stories. With discreet and at the same time sublime language Matveyev conveyed the main idea of ​​the time – the assertion of the ideal of freedom.
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Soviet sculptor Anatoly Kusch. Peace. Copper electroplating. 1977

Heroes of the compositions on which Soviet sculptor Anatoly Kusch worked in the 1980s were as young as their creator. They are in love, joy, experiencing first feelings of young parents, boys and girls. He took an active part in tenders for the creation of various monuments. These include sculptural and architectural complex “Friendship of Peoples”, dedicated to the reunification of Ukraine and Russia. He refers to the sculpture park. Soon the territory of the beautiful resort “Khmelniki” of Vinnitsa region, surrounded by greenery and lakes decorated sculptural compositions “Young Family”, “Boy with a Dolphin,” “The Swan Princess”, fountain “Source”.
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