The sculptural portrait “Writer E.T.A. Hoffmann” presented in the museum’s exhibition was executed by the artist Dmitry Viktorovich Novakov in 2021. He was born in Novosibirsk in 1970; as a child he studied at an art school in Ishim, Tyumen region. In 1992, Dmitry Novakov graduated from the Tashkent State Pedagogical Institute; in 2003, he became interested in sculpture. In 2014, the artist moved to St. Petersburg.
The pectoral sculptural portrait reflects the inner world of the writer, a romantic and dreamer. Dmitry Viktorovich Novakov executed the bust in the traditions of the realistic school, covering the bronze work with relief images of characters and images of the German writer’s works.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann spent his entire life grappling with the ordinariness in himself and the world around him. Understanding this, the sculptor found an unusual compositional solution. Hoffmann’s everyday battle was hard, but it resulted in a complete victory of the human spirit over the circumstances of life and gray routine. The artwork celebrates this victory.
The sculptural portrait of Hoffmann is recognizable: it bears the most characteristic features of lifetime self-portraits and portraits of the writer. Dmitry Novakov portrayed both his thin, long nose with a hump, and his oval-shaped face with a sharp, somewhat protruding chin. One can see a soft, even naive look, thin lips in an ironic smile, curly hair and sideburns. The image created by the artist corresponds to the extant verbal descriptions of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann’s appearance.
The relief part of
Dmitry Novakov’s sculpture includes a golden pot with a blooming lily that
fulfills wishes, and Tomcat Murr with a monocle in his right eye. One can
distinguish the bundle of radish from the fairy tale “The Royal Bride”, as well
as the gears and the Olympia doll, whom Nathaniel from the short story “The
Sandman” fell in love with. The sculptor also created the image of Little
Zaches — a freak with a long nose, small eyes and curly hair — and other
characters from Hoffmann’s literary works.
