Clay figurine artists from Abramtsevo

Moscow arts centre  – Abramtsevo

Situated 30 miles from Moscow, in a forest in close proximity to the Trinity Monastery at Sergiev Posad, lies the Abramtsevo museum and artists colony, an intellectual and artistic center that played a significant role in the development of Russian culture in the 19th Century.

Abramtsevo first came to prominence in 1843, when the estate was bought by Sergei Aksakov, a writer famous for his semi-autobiographical tales of aristocratic Russian life and treatises on country pursuits. In 1870, the estate was bought by Savva Mamontov, heir to a railroad fortune and one of the most significant figures in the development of Russian national art. He established an artists’ colony at Abramtsevo, and urged his artistic friends to return to Moscow and pursue there interests at his expense. The group that gathered around him included Art Nouveau painter Mikhail Vrubel, Realist Ilya Repin, Impressionist Valentin Serov, landscape painter Vasili Polenov, and the Vasnetsov brothers, Viktor and Apollinarius.

Abramtsevo art college Russia

Abramtsevo Bath House

The original intention of the art centre was to  increase attention on the national arts, and the preservation and development of traditional folk art. The creativity of the Abramtsevo community reflects a broader cultural tendency that emphasizes both the aesthetic and spiritual realms. Abramtsevo continues to be used as an artists retreat and there is still a School of Applied Arts operating on the estate. Many of Abramtsevo’s activities centre not just on the crafts, visual arts, and architecture but also on drama, music, and set design. Below are a collection of young ceramic artists who have graduated from Abramtsevo and have a flair for creating wonderful figurines.

 

 

 Eli Kaluga Innocent :  Eli worked for many years in a porcelain factory, and has since branched out to producing miniture figurines, usually of a lively and expressive nature.

El Innocent ceramic figurines - balerina and a man with a briefcase

El Innocent

El Innocent pottery figurines Kneeling man with miniature lady

El Innocent

El Innocent - pottery figurine of seated lady talking on the phone

El Innocent ceramic figurine

Four ballerinas - El Innocent

Four Dancing Ballerinas – El Innocent

El Innocent ceramic art figurine

El Innocent

El Innocent man reclining on floor.

Preferring floor to bed – El Innocent

El Innocent Woman dragging her cart

El Innocent

El Innocent - Tea gossip

Tea Gossip – El Innocent

Dancing Couple - El Innocent Figurine of male and female couple dancing

Dancing Couple – El Innocent

The main house at Abramtsevo has been well preserved and has distinct French Empire style, designed during the Aksakov era, and a Neo-Russian interior from Mamontov’s time at the complex. It is believed that the main house at Abramtsevo was the basis of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

Alexey Illarionov :

Alexey Illarionov ceramic sculpture of a lizzard

Lizard  sitting on a rock – Alexey Illarionov

 

Alexey Illarionov ceramic sculpture

 Alexey Illarionov

Galina Bulganin :

Galina-Bulganin figurine of girl holding her cat

‘Girl and cat’ – Galina Bulganin

 

 

'The  Creative Process' - Galina Bulganin lady reclining on a turtle

‘The  Creative Process’ – Galina Bulganin

 

 

Girl sleeping on a bull Bulganin-Galina.

‘Abduction of Europe’ – Galina Bulganin

 

Elya Yalonetskaya ;

 Elya Yalonetskaya figurine of a lady with a fan

‘Lady with fan’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Nezhnost' - Elya Yalonetskaya - sculpture of a couple embracing in a yatch

‘Nezhnost’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Isadora' - Elya Yalonetskaya - figurine of lady riding a bycicle

‘Isadora’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

Clay-figurine of lovers together -  Elya Yalonetskaya

‘Love’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

'Malishka' - Elya Yalonetskaya- mother with child

‘Malishka’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Dreamer' - Elya Yalonetskaya - couple seated on crescent moon on top of female head

‘Dreamer’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'For a walk' - Elya Yalonetskaya - three children with  fish seated on the back of a horse

‘For a walk’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Curious Eyes' - Elya Yalonetskaya - figurine of a child holding onto his mothers apron

‘Curious Eyes’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Girl with flowers' - Elya Yalonetskaya

‘Girl with flowers’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'One that brings children' - Elya Yalonetskaya

‘One that brings children’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Ptica' - Elya Yalonetskaya ceramic sculpture of a girl with the body of a bird

‘Ptica’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'Spring' - Elya Yalonetskaya - Girl seated on an abstract horse

‘Spring’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

Elya Yalonetskaya Figurine of a magician performing tricks

‘Best Number’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

Elya Yalonetskaya - figurine of a red headed woman playing a guitar

‘Ms.A’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

Elya Yalonetskaya - clay sculpture of a zany man riding a horse

‘magi4eskaya mnogostupen4atost’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

Elya Yalonetskaya portrait

Elya Yalonetskaya

Elya Yalonetskaya white ceramic sculpture of a woman

‘Teatralka’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

'Tam visoko' - Elya Yalonetskaya - figurine of young couple riding a white horse

‘Tam visoko’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

 

'The release of the unconscious' - Elya Yalonetskaya

‘The release of the unconscious’ – Elya Yalonetskaya

 

Marina Nelyubina :

Ceramic sculpture of a girl riding a snail by Marina Nelyubina

Marina Nelyubina

 

 

Marina Nelyubina vase wiith relief figure if a girl

Marina Nelyubina

Church of the Saviour Not Made by Human Hand,

Many various buildings have been built on the Abramtsevo estate by the resident artists. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Church of the Saviour Not Made by Human Hand, a miniscule church based on the medieval Novgorod designs. Inside the church are icons courtesy of Ilya Repin and Michael Nesterov, and the tiled stove and mosaic floor (in the shape of a blooming flower) are examples of Vrubel’s and Viktor Vasnetsov’s work respectively.

 

Anastasia Tarasova :

Anastasia Tarasova sculptured rhinoserous

Anastasia Tarasova

Anastasia Tarasova with sculpture

Anastasia Tarasova

 

 

Abramtsevo students and veterans meet

Abramtsevo students and veterans meet at 125 year anniversary

 

 

more on Abramtsevo artists here

 
 
 
 
 

 

2 Comments

  1. Tanja
    Posted September 30, 2015 at 5:00 am | Permalink

    In love with the figurine Tam Visoko, is it for sale?

  2. Gracia Dahmen
    Posted April 15, 2023 at 4:09 am | Permalink

    Stehen die Figuren Frühling und für einen Spaziergang zum Verkauf. Wwnn ja, zu welchem Preis? Vielen Dank
    Mir freundlichem Gruß
    Gracia

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