Sergey Konenkov (1874 — 1971) became known in history as one of the main sculptors of the 20th century, the ‘Russian Rodin’, an original thinker and mystic. A peasant’s son, who carried his love for the native Smolensk region through his life, in Moscow he diligently created his reputation as an artist from the people, with whose pictures his fellow villagers covered izba walls. Interest in Russian antiquity and folk element meant a lot in the context of the Silver Age culture. It suffices to recall how popular were poems of another peasant by origin — the poet Sergey Yesenin. 

The eyes of the leshy are made of natural stone. However, in his work Konenkov rarely used details brought from the outside in order not to disturb the ritual of communication with the wood. He was one of the first sculptors to turn to this material, and preferred to work with rough logs, stumps and billets. From his chisel emerged ancient Slavic deities, fairy-tale characters, chthonic monsters and heroes of the Russian folk epic.

The “forest series” struck contemporaries by the unusual combination of folklore imagery with plastic finds of ancient sculpture. In parallel with the “forest series” Konenkov worked on the equally famous “Greek series”, seeking a synthesis of two powerful artistic traditions — classical and ancient Russian.