- Sergey Konenkov
Sergey Timofeyevich Konenkov ( _ru. Сергей Тимофеевич Конёнков;
July 10 ,1874 –December 9 ,1971 ) was a famousRussia n andSoviet sculptor . He was often called "the Russian Rodin".Born into a poor
peasant family, Sergey Konenkov studied at theMoscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and at theSt. Petersburg Academy of Arts . His diploma work - a huge clay statue ofSamson tearing the chains - broke most existing laws of academic art and put him at odds with his teachers.He travelled to
Italy ,France ,Egypt ,Greece , andGermany .During the
Russian revolution of 1905 Konenkov was with the workers on thebarricade s, soon after creatingportrait s of the heroes of therebellion inMoscow . Konenkov later supported theRussian Revolution of 1917 .In 1922 Konenkov married Margarita Ivanovna Vorontsova, and in 1923 they travelled to the
USA to take part in an exhibition of Russian andSoviet art . The trip was supposed to last for a few months, but Konenkov stayed in the States for 22 years, living and working inNew York .In 1928–1929 the sculptor visits Italy to meet and work on a portrait of the Soviet writer
Maksim Gorky . He has a personal exhibition inRome .During the American period, Konenkov creates a large body of work focusing on
Bible themes, theApocalypsis . He produces works depictingJesus Christ , theChristian prophets andapostles .In 1935 he was commissioned by the
Princeton University to do a sculpture ofAlbert Einstein . It is said that Einstein was interested in the work of the Russian sculptor, but was more focused on his wife, Margarita, who also was acquainted with theRobert Oppenheimer , “father of the American atom bomb”. There have been allegations that Margarita was working in those years for the Soviet Government, but no concrete evidence has been provided to support the theory.Under direct orders from
Stalin in 1945 a ship was sent to New York to bring Konenkov back to theUSSR . The sculptor was given a large studio on Gorky street in the centre of Moscow.Konenkov created sculptures of
Aleksandr Pushkin ,Anton Chekhov ,Leo Tolstoy ,Feodor Dostoyevsky ,Ivan Turgenev ,Vladimir Mayakovsky ,Konstantin Tsiolkovsky ,Vasily Surikov , Johann Bach, Paganini, to name a few. He also made wood carvedcross es and other pieces for theMarfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow.Konenkov received numerous Soviet awards, including the golden star of the
Hero of Socialist Labour , theorder of Lenin and the title Peoples artist of the USSR.He is buried in Moscow’s
Novodevichy Convent .Works
External links
* [http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2002/FBI-Tracked-Calls7may02.htm New York Times - How the F.B.I. tracked the calls of Einstein (features meeting with Konenkov’s wife)]
* [http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-98/06-02-98/a08wn046.htm Letters suggest Einstein affair with spy]
* [http://www.crestlinecourier-news.com/articles/2005/04/14/news/news1.txt Konenkov's Grandson Arrested For Arson]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
