Biography of Antokolsky sculptor

Mark Antokolsky. His parents were deeply religious people, they raised all their eight children in the best traditions of the Jewish faith. Since childhood, the boy was fond of drawing and devoted all his free time to his favorite occupation, painting the walls and furniture in the house intricate patterns and pictures. The sculpture “Ivan the Terrible”, despite the negative attitude of the father to art, the parents still decided to develop the creative abilities of the son and gave it to training for a local woodc cut.

Soon, rumors about the young apprentice spread throughout the city and Anastasia Aleksandrovna Nazimova, the wife of the Vilna Governor General, found out about him. It was thanks to her patronage in the year that Mark became the free listener of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, and got the opportunity to study the sculpture at a professional level. The monument to Peter I, already in the year, the young sculptor received his first academic medal for the sculpture of "mean".

At the early stage of creativity, Mark Antokolsky mainly created works on Jewish themes, but during the training he was seriously carried away by Russian history, after which his addictions changed dramatically. The sculpture “Death of Socrates”, in the year the master made the sculptural composition “Ivan the Terrible” from bronze, which instantly brought him wide fame. The Grand Duchess told the Russian king about the young sculptor and his masterpiece, after which the omnipotent monarch bought for 8 rubles “Ivan the Terrible”.

In addition, Antokolsky was awarded the title of academician and honorary citizen. The sculpture “Christ before people”, the money earned helped the artist to equip his personal life. Having become a rich and famous person, he immediately acquired half of the luxurious house in his native Vilnius and married the daughter of the local merchant Yelelis Apatovas, the beautiful Elena.

Together with his wife, Mark Antokolsky went abroad in the year - at first he visited Rome, and then firmly settled in Paris. In Vilnius, until the beginning of the 10ths, he constantly arrived with his family for the summer vacation, but later, due to health problems, he was forced to abandon such trips and rested every summer in Italian or German resorts. The sculpture of Mephistopheles, although since the beginning of the 10ths, Mark Antokolsky lived in France most of his time, he never lost contact with his homeland: he constantly fulfilled orders for the royal family and the Russian Academy of Arts, wrote articles for domestic magazines, and in St.

Petersburg, personal exhibitions of his work were held with enviable regularity. The sculpture of “not from this world” Christian martyr, the artist’s family life has developed successfully. In a marriage, he had two lovely daughters, who later very successfully married: one - for the English lord, and the other for the Italian count. Both of them did not have warm feelings for Russia and lived all their lives away from it.

The sculpture is “Ermak”, but their father always remained in his soul a Russian artist and even bequeathed to bury himself in St. Petersburg.

Unfortunately, the brilliant sculptor has suffered from a chronic stomach ulcer for many years and lived only 58 years. The body of the master in a special carriage was taken to St. Petersburg and buried with great honors in the Preobrazhensky cemetery. The sculpture "Mermaid", the most famous works of Mark Antokolsky, the famous Russian artist left for the descendants many beautiful sculptural works.

And yet, the most famous works of Mark Antokolsky are considered: “stingy” - a small high relief made by a master of ivory and wood. For this work, the artist received not only the well -deserved award of the Academy, but also, by personal order of the emperor, became a scholarship holder of a higher educational institution. The author depicted the omnipotent king in the image of the old man who wise with life, who, in spite of everything, firmly holds onto the throne and inspires fear of his subjects.

Subsequently, the artist made two more bronze copies of this work that were installed in Arkhangelsk and Taganrog. This work of the artist Central Bank of Russia perpetuates in a memorable coin released in the year in honor of the Flight of the Russian Historical Society.