The heritage of the Ural artist Andrey Gennadievich Antonov is extensive and varied. His works are kept in museums throughout Russia and abroad. The sculptor’s pieces can be found in chamber exhibitions and the streets, parks, and squares of different cities. His numerous works include a monument dedicated to the merchant and philanthropist Tekutyev, that was erected on Tekutevsky Boulevard in Tyumen, as well as two pieces in Yekaterinburg — a sculpture “Muse of Cinema” mounted on the building of the House of Cinema and a bust of the writer Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak installed on the dam of the city pond. A set of sculptures called “Townspeople. Conversation” is also located on one of the streets of the Ural capital.
The Irbit State Museum houses a life-size plaster model for the bronze casting of the eponymous monument. It shows three prominent Ural artists and friends of the sculptor — Misha Brusilovsky, Vitaly Volovich, and German Metelyov, engaged in a conversation forever.
The images of Brusilovsky, Volovich, and Metelyov are recurring in the works of Andrey Antonov. He made indoor sculptures of the artists back in 1978. The idea to represent the famous “townspeople” with a sculpture came to Antonov after one of his friends, German Metelyov, passed away in 2006.
The bronze set of sculptures “Townspeople. Conversation” was established in 2008. Volovich and Brusilovsky were present at the opening. One of them passed away eight years later, the other one — ten years later. But their bronze doppelgangers still argue about something and seem to have a lively conversation.
Making a plaster model was one of the last stages of working on the sculpture. Metal casting molds were made from it so that the plaster figures were identical to the bronze ones. The different tints of each of the figures speak to the fact that the sculptor was choosing between materials for the sculptures. It can be assumed that he considered stone or concrete, bronze, and cast iron.
Antonov meticulously depicted the details of each character’s appearance — their clothes, features, facial expressions, gestures, and posture. The sculptures are much taller and larger than their originals. The highest one is the 237-cm figure of Vitaly Volovich, who also was the tallest one in the group, the statue of German Metelyov is 210 cm, and the one of Misha Brusilovsky is 206 cm.
The Irbit State Museum houses a life-size plaster model for the bronze casting of the eponymous monument. It shows three prominent Ural artists and friends of the sculptor — Misha Brusilovsky, Vitaly Volovich, and German Metelyov, engaged in a conversation forever.
The images of Brusilovsky, Volovich, and Metelyov are recurring in the works of Andrey Antonov. He made indoor sculptures of the artists back in 1978. The idea to represent the famous “townspeople” with a sculpture came to Antonov after one of his friends, German Metelyov, passed away in 2006.
The bronze set of sculptures “Townspeople. Conversation” was established in 2008. Volovich and Brusilovsky were present at the opening. One of them passed away eight years later, the other one — ten years later. But their bronze doppelgangers still argue about something and seem to have a lively conversation.
Making a plaster model was one of the last stages of working on the sculpture. Metal casting molds were made from it so that the plaster figures were identical to the bronze ones. The different tints of each of the figures speak to the fact that the sculptor was choosing between materials for the sculptures. It can be assumed that he considered stone or concrete, bronze, and cast iron.
Antonov meticulously depicted the details of each character’s appearance — their clothes, features, facial expressions, gestures, and posture. The sculptures are much taller and larger than their originals. The highest one is the 237-cm figure of Vitaly Volovich, who also was the tallest one in the group, the statue of German Metelyov is 210 cm, and the one of Misha Brusilovsky is 206 cm.
