Mark Antokolski
Encyclopedia
Mark Matveyevich Antokolski (Марк Матве́евич Антоко́льский in Russian
; 2 November 184314 July 1902) was a Russian sculptor who was admired for psychological complexity of his historical images and panned for occasional lapses into sentimentalism
.
, present-day Vilnius
, Lithuania
, as Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky.
He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts (1862–68) at St. Petersburg. He first began with Jewish themes, statues: "Jewish Tailor", "Nathan The Wise", "Inquisition's Attack against Jews", "The Talmudic Debate".
From 1868–1870, Mark Antokolski lived in Berlin
. His statue of Ivan the Terrible (1870) was purchased for the Hermitage
by Emperor Alexander II of Russia
. The latter approved his work and awarded the sculptor the title of Academic. Mark Antokolski believed that sculpture was a social and humane ideal. In order to improve his failing health, he moved to the Italian
resorts in 1871 and settled in Paris
six years later.
Every year Antokolski would come back to his native town of Vilnius during his summer holidays. Namely here he created his first significant work, high relief "A Jewish Tailor", during his summer holidays of 1864.
The work of the young sculptor provoked debate in the Academy in Petersburg. On 28 October 1864, the Council of the Academy decided to award Antokolski with the Small Silver Medal for the "Tailor" by the majority of votes.
While in Vilnius the following year, Antokolski created another high relief - "A Stingy Man," which is sometimes referred to as "A Stingy Jew Counting his Coins". The artist was born into a poor family and saw how his father's financial situation improved. The sculpture might have reflected Antokolski's feelings towards his native town of Vilnius, and firstly to his father. This work as well as the first sculpture was positively evaluated by Vasily Stasov
who saw "the features of the simple truth, the things that, previously, nobody dared to think about in sculpture" in the works of the artist. In 1865, the high relief "Stingy Man" was awarded the Grand Silver Medal of the Academy. In later years the sculptor continued working on Jewish themes, which developed into complex, yet unfinished compositions: "Talmud Dispute" (1866–1868) and "Inquisition Attacks the Jews" (1868–1869). The "Inquisition" was M. Antokolski's last work on the Jewish topic in his student years.
According to the review of the Art Academy, Antokolski was granted personal name of honorary citizen "for wonderful knowledge of art" on 7 April 1870. This fact was also entered into an archival record. Moreover, an inscription remained that Morduchas was excluded from the revision register of Antakalnis Jewish community as a person awarded the name of an honorary citizen.
In 1871 Antokolski started his first "Russian" sculpture, "Ivan the Terrible", which made an enormous impression on all valuators and connoisseurs of art. When Emperor Alexander II saw the sculpture he asked to make its bronze copy and allocated the sculptor advance payment of 4,000 roubles. Pavel Tretyakov ordered a marble copy for his gallery. The funds received enabled the artist to resolve his personal problems. In 1871 (in Vilnius) Antokolski got acquainted with Jelena (Gene), daughter of a rich Vilnius merchant Judelis Girðovièius Apatovas. The two married on 6 September 1872.
Antokolski used 4,000 rubles for the "Ivan the Terrible" to buy half of a big house in Vilnius, the other part of which had previously belonged to his wife. In 1876, upon his regular visits to Vilnius, Antokolski rebuilt the house. After 1876, Antokolski was a rare visitor to his native town due to illnesses, work, and exhibitions in Paris and Italy, which took almost all of his time. However, the artist did not break his links with Jewish life. Concern over his nation urged Antokolski to return back to his work "Inquisition Attacks the Jews", started 30 years before in Vilnius.
In Rome
, Antokolski completed the statue of Peter the Great
for Peterhof Palace
in 1872, with its copies for Taganrog
and Archangelsk. In 1878 Antokolski exhibited most of his works at the Paris Universal exposition, and received the Grand Prize. In 1880, the personal exhibition of the artist was held in Saint Petersburg
, and he was given the rank of professor. Mark Antokolski left for Paris the same year, and stayed in the French capital until the end of his life, apart periods on the Lake Maggiore
, in northern Italy
. He realised here the following works: "Spinoza" (1881), "Mephistopheles"(1884), "Yaroslav the Wise"(1889), "Nestor the Chronicler"(1889) and "Yermak Timofeevich" (1891).
He had also planned a monument to Catherine II in Vilnius. However, with the chronic stomach disease getting more severe, the artist suddenly died on 9 July (27 June according to the old calendar) in Frankfurt (Germany). The last work was completed by I. Ginzburg after the sculptor's death. The monument has not survived.
It was decided to bury Antokolski in Petersburg. The train with a special carriage went via Vilnius where he was waited for. Mark Antokolski was buried on 18 (6 according to the old calendar) July 1902 in Preobrazhenskaya Cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
; 2 November 184314 July 1902) was a Russian sculptor who was admired for psychological complexity of his historical images and panned for occasional lapses into sentimentalism
Sentimentalism
Sentimentalism is used in different ways:* Sentimentalism , a theory in moral epistemology concerning how one knows moral truths; also known as moral sense theory* Sentimentalism , a form of literary discourse...
.
Biography
Antokolski was born in VilnaVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, present-day Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, as Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky.
He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts (1862–68) at St. Petersburg. He first began with Jewish themes, statues: "Jewish Tailor", "Nathan The Wise", "Inquisition's Attack against Jews", "The Talmudic Debate".
From 1868–1870, Mark Antokolski lived in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. His statue of Ivan the Terrible (1870) was purchased for the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
by Emperor Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. The latter approved his work and awarded the sculptor the title of Academic. Mark Antokolski believed that sculpture was a social and humane ideal. In order to improve his failing health, he moved to the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
resorts in 1871 and settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
six years later.
Every year Antokolski would come back to his native town of Vilnius during his summer holidays. Namely here he created his first significant work, high relief "A Jewish Tailor", during his summer holidays of 1864.
The work of the young sculptor provoked debate in the Academy in Petersburg. On 28 October 1864, the Council of the Academy decided to award Antokolski with the Small Silver Medal for the "Tailor" by the majority of votes.
While in Vilnius the following year, Antokolski created another high relief - "A Stingy Man," which is sometimes referred to as "A Stingy Jew Counting his Coins". The artist was born into a poor family and saw how his father's financial situation improved. The sculpture might have reflected Antokolski's feelings towards his native town of Vilnius, and firstly to his father. This work as well as the first sculpture was positively evaluated by Vasily Stasov
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov was a Russian architect.-Biography:Stasov was born in Moscow....
who saw "the features of the simple truth, the things that, previously, nobody dared to think about in sculpture" in the works of the artist. In 1865, the high relief "Stingy Man" was awarded the Grand Silver Medal of the Academy. In later years the sculptor continued working on Jewish themes, which developed into complex, yet unfinished compositions: "Talmud Dispute" (1866–1868) and "Inquisition Attacks the Jews" (1868–1869). The "Inquisition" was M. Antokolski's last work on the Jewish topic in his student years.
According to the review of the Art Academy, Antokolski was granted personal name of honorary citizen "for wonderful knowledge of art" on 7 April 1870. This fact was also entered into an archival record. Moreover, an inscription remained that Morduchas was excluded from the revision register of Antakalnis Jewish community as a person awarded the name of an honorary citizen.
In 1871 Antokolski started his first "Russian" sculpture, "Ivan the Terrible", which made an enormous impression on all valuators and connoisseurs of art. When Emperor Alexander II saw the sculpture he asked to make its bronze copy and allocated the sculptor advance payment of 4,000 roubles. Pavel Tretyakov ordered a marble copy for his gallery. The funds received enabled the artist to resolve his personal problems. In 1871 (in Vilnius) Antokolski got acquainted with Jelena (Gene), daughter of a rich Vilnius merchant Judelis Girðovièius Apatovas. The two married on 6 September 1872.
Antokolski used 4,000 rubles for the "Ivan the Terrible" to buy half of a big house in Vilnius, the other part of which had previously belonged to his wife. In 1876, upon his regular visits to Vilnius, Antokolski rebuilt the house. After 1876, Antokolski was a rare visitor to his native town due to illnesses, work, and exhibitions in Paris and Italy, which took almost all of his time. However, the artist did not break his links with Jewish life. Concern over his nation urged Antokolski to return back to his work "Inquisition Attacks the Jews", started 30 years before in Vilnius.
In Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Antokolski completed the statue of Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
for Peterhof Palace
Peterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace in Russian, so German is transliterated as "Петергoф" Petergof into Russian) for "Peter's Court") is actually a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the...
in 1872, with its copies for Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
and Archangelsk. In 1878 Antokolski exhibited most of his works at the Paris Universal exposition, and received the Grand Prize. In 1880, the personal exhibition of the artist was held in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, and he was given the rank of professor. Mark Antokolski left for Paris the same year, and stayed in the French capital until the end of his life, apart periods on the Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest of Italy and largest of southern Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 km between Locarno and Arona.The climate is mild...
, in northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He realised here the following works: "Spinoza" (1881), "Mephistopheles"(1884), "Yaroslav the Wise"(1889), "Nestor the Chronicler"(1889) and "Yermak Timofeevich" (1891).
He had also planned a monument to Catherine II in Vilnius. However, with the chronic stomach disease getting more severe, the artist suddenly died on 9 July (27 June according to the old calendar) in Frankfurt (Germany). The last work was completed by I. Ginzburg after the sculptor's death. The monument has not survived.
It was decided to bury Antokolski in Petersburg. The train with a special carriage went via Vilnius where he was waited for. Mark Antokolski was buried on 18 (6 according to the old calendar) July 1902 in Preobrazhenskaya Cemetery in St. Petersburg.