Yulian Rukavishnikov 2022 stampsheet of Russia

Yulian Mitrofanovich Rukavishnikov (; 29 September 1922,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

– 14 December 2000, Moscow) was a Russian sculptor, and a full member of the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAA / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. A founder of RAA is the Governmen ...

. He enjoyed a long and successful career spanning about 50 years with works ranging from medals to large monuments and high

reliefs Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

, yet he was mostly known for his sculptures of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, which were installed both within and outside of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Rukavishnikov's father Mitrofan, wife Angelina, son Aleksandr, and grandson Filipp, were also prominent Russian sculptors.

Biography

Rukavishnikov was related to the writer

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

through Nabokov's mother, Yelena Rukavishnikova. He trained in a flight school together with

Vasily Stalin Vasily Iosifovich Stalin Dzhugashvili ( ka, ვასილი იოსების ძე სტალინი ჯუღაშვილი, ; 21 March 1921 – 19 March 1962) was the youngest son of Joseph Stalin, born from his second wife, ...

, the son of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. It was Vasily, who recommended Rukavishnikov to Stalin for creating a bust of Stalin's mother at the

Mtatsminda Pantheon The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures ( ka, მთაწმინდის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი, ''mtats'mindis mts'eralta da sazogado mo ...

in Tbilisi, Georgia. Rukavishnikov was then just an art school student, yet Stalin came to like his work. Rukavishnikov's father Mitrofan, wife Angelina, son Aleksandr, and grandson Filip, were also prominent Russian sculptors. During one of his first individual flights at the aviation school, Rukavishnikov's plane stalled at a height of ca. 30 meters, and hard-crashed to the ground. Rukavishnikov sustained a heavy injury to his head; he consequently resigned from the flight school and pursued a sculptor career.

Work

Rukavishnikov used various materials, including

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, without preference to any of them. His works ranged from medals to high reliefs and upscale monuments. He was mostly known to outsiders for his depictions of prominent personalities, yet his private, studio work focused on nature and small animals. Approximately 12 of his sculptures are featured in the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

in Moscow. His other major works include the following: *Bust of

Keke Geladze Ekaterine Giorgis asuli GeladzeIn Russian, her name was Екатерина Георгиевна Геладзе, ''Ekaterina Georgievna Geladze'' (1856/1858 – 4 June 1937) was the mother of Joseph Stalin. She was commonly known as Keke. Born ...

at the

in Tbilisi, Georgia * Chekhov Monument, Taganrog * Busts of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and

Mikhail Suslov Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (; 25 January 1982) was a Soviet people, Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Secretariat, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Sovi ...

at the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

*''The Resurrection of Christ'' at the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...

in Moscow

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rukavishnikov, Yulian 1922 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Russian sculptors Artists from Moscow Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Full Members of the Russian Academy of Arts People's Artists of the RSFSR (visual arts) People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Socialist realist artists Russian male sculptors Soviet sculptors Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery