Yevgeny Alexandrovich Lanceray was a Russian animalier sculptor and honorary associate member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The museum houses four statues by Lanceray, three of them you can see in the exhibition of Classical Russian Art. What stands out about his work is his meticulous approach and careful attention to detail. It is known that the sculptor particularly loved horses and towards the end of his life even took up horse breeding.

Yevgeny Lanceray did not receive a formal art education, although he attended the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg as a non-matriculated student. After completing his studies as a lawyer, Lanceray focused entirely on sculpture. In 1872, at the age of 24, he presented his small wax and bronze sculptures at the Academy of Arts and was awarded the title of class artist of the first degree. In 1874, he was recognized as an honorary associate member of the Academy of Arts for his outstanding contribution to art. In 1879, Yevgeny Lanceray became a member of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers. Contemporaries praised his work,

Yevgeny Lanceray was a passionate traveler. The sculptor visited the Middle East, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Bashkiria, Kyrgyzstan, and regions in Central Russia. He found inspiration in these trips and the impressions they left. His sculptures are inspired by ethnography. He depicted the lives and customs of various peoples of the Russian Empire, such as the Circassians, Georgians, Ossetians, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, and Nogais.

Yevgeny Lanceray had a short but eventful and prolific life. He designed over 400 artworks. At the age of 38, he died from tuberculosis. He was survived by his wife Yekaterina Nikolayevna and six children. Three of his children also pursued a career in art. The most famous one of them was Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lanceray, who became a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, People’s Artist of the RSFSR, and winner of the Stalin Prize, 2nd class.