Mikhail Anikushin (1917–1997)

The collection is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Soviet Russian sculptor M. K. Anikushin (1917—1997), whose work was one of a state-of-art of Russian sculpture of the second half of the XX century. People’s Artist of the USSR, Honorary Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, a winner of the Lenin Prize, chairman of the Board of the Leningrad Branch of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR, Leningrad — St. Petersburg based greatly contributed with his sculptures into a current look of our city.

In 1937 M. K. Anikushin became a freshman of the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I. Y. Repin of the Leningrad Academy of Arts, where he studies at the classes of V. A. Sinaisky and A. T. Matveyev. A war interrupted school. From its first days the artist went into people’s volunteer corps, and from November 1941 was admitted into the ranks of the regular Red Army.

M. K. Anikushin started his work on creating the image of Alexander Pushkin in the 40s of the XX century. Held in 1947 first tours of the All-Union competition for the best monument to the poet in Leningrad did not yield any tangible results, and in 1949 the young sculptor submitted his draft at the IV open round of the contest. This artwork became a winner, beginning a lifetime long creative process. Throughout his entire creative career M. K. Anikushin crafted the monuments to Alexander Pushkin, which are currently remained as in the territory of the former Soviet Union, so abroad (lists of sculptures and the cities are included in the collection). Also the digital copies of photographs of the monuments to Alexander Pushkin, their intermediate versions and unreleased projects in the collection are especially noteworthy, as the illustrations of transformation of the poet’s image in the creative mind of M. K. Anikushin.

Another milestone sculptor’s work is the Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad, established in 1975 on Victory Square. The collection contains digital copies of materials about the monument, its photographs and photo albums dedicated to official opening of an exhibition in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the monument, organized in the museum-studio of M. K. Anikushin.

Also of certain interest are the documents reflecting the public work of M. K. Anikushin, in particular, on the post of Chairman of the Board of the Leningrad Branch the Union of Art of the RSFSR. His correspondence from the late 80’s — the early 90’s demonstrates personal involvement of the sculptor and public figure in dramatic changes in his country’s life.

The collection contains 236 entries.

Documents for the collection courtesy of the sculptor’s daughter N. M. Anikushina and some other private collections.

About M. K. Anikushin

The collection opens with the materials about the life and work of the sculptor. Among these are the digital copies of the creative background and reference letter of M. K. Anikushin, an autobiography of his wife M. Litovchenko, and so on. The digital copies of the artist’s portrait photographs, the images of his family members and a wide range of people associated with him fairly complement an idea about the life and work of M. K. Anikushin. The section ends up with information about the state awards of M. K. Anikushin.
Correspondence

The section includes the digital copies of M. Anikushin’s correspondence. These documents illustrate his professional appearance and public work. In particular, the sculptor’s correspondence related to the Pushkin theme in his work, including contacts with the director of the Pushkinskiye Gory of Mikhaylovskoye State National Park and Museum of Alexander Pushkin S. S. Geychenko as well as Anikushin’s letters to the descendants of Alexander Pushkin. Included letters reveal the versatile individuality of the master, his personal involvement into the processes going on in the society and fine arts, especially at the boundary between the 80’s — the 90’s of the last century.
Creative work

The main works of M. K. Anikushin are presented in the documents and images of that section. The section opens with the materials about the critically acclaimed monuments to Alexander Pushkin, in particular, — the monument to Alexander Pushkin on the Ploshchad Iskusstv (Square of Arts) in St. Petersburg. The section contains materials related to the military monuments: the monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad, the sculptural compositions “Friendship” and “Mir” created for Nagasaki city, etc. Also, here is collected information about monuments and sculptural portraits of the prominent scientists and cultural figures, politicians and Heroes of Labor. The section ends up with a selection of digital copies of photographs taken in the artistic studio of M. K. Anikushin at different times.
Ensuring perpetuation of M. K. Anikushin

The section contains digital copies of the articles and photographs dedicated to the memory of M. K. Anikushin. Of particular interest is the report on a small planet № 3358 named after the sculptor.