Anna Semyonovna Golubkina was born in Zaraysk, Ryazan Governorate (currently the Moscow region) in a middle-class family of Old Believers. At the age of twenty-five, she went to study in Moscow and was admitted to the School of Fine Arts organized by the architect Anatoly Gunst. There her great potential caught the eye of the famous sculptor and teacher Sergei Volnukhin.
In 1894, Anna Golubkina entered the class of sculptor Vladimir Beklemishev at the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. The very next year, she went to Paris, where she attended classes at the Académie Colarossi, a private art school founded in 1870.
Between 1897 and 1899, Anna Golubkina, inspired by being a student of the famous Auguste Rodin, created such works as “The Old Age”, “Portrait of Édouard-Gérard Balbiani”, and “A Woman’s Mask”. At the spring Paris Salon of 1899, she was awarded the bronze medal of the Academy of Fine Arts for the sculpture “The Old Age”. Soon after that, Anna Golubkina returned to Moscow.
Golubkina created the plaster portrait sculpture of Mikhail Lermontov in 1900. She painted it with black gouache. The bust is 65 cm high, and the base area measures 41×45 cm.
The poet looks down, his eyes are slightly closed, and his gaze is thoughtful. The big mustache is upwardly curled, the hair is swept to the right side with a parting on the left. Anna Golubkina chose an officer’s frock coat with epaulets as Lermontov’s attire.
The coat collar is unbuttoned; this image alludes to the watercolor portraits of Lermontov by Alexander Julius Klünder. The shoulders of the bust are truncated. This work was commissioned by Vera Firsanova: in 1869, her father bought the estate where Mikhail Lermontov had lived for some time. After the revolution, the estate and the railway station were renamed from Firsanovka to Mtsyri.
In 1903, Anna Golubkina created the relief “The Wave” on the façade over the entrance of the Moscow Art Theater. From 1910, she lived and worked in her workshop on Bolshoy Levshinsky Lane. Her sculptural works are housed in the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and the Musée d’Orsay.
Throughout her career, Anna Golubkina created many famous works including portraits of Leo Tolstoy, Aleksey Remizov, Andrei Bely, Vladimir Ern, Aleksey Tolstoy, and others. Golubkina, like many other people of art, was interested in exploring the image of Mikhail Lermontov, one of the greatest Russian poets.
In 1894, Anna Golubkina entered the class of sculptor Vladimir Beklemishev at the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. The very next year, she went to Paris, where she attended classes at the Académie Colarossi, a private art school founded in 1870.
Between 1897 and 1899, Anna Golubkina, inspired by being a student of the famous Auguste Rodin, created such works as “The Old Age”, “Portrait of Édouard-Gérard Balbiani”, and “A Woman’s Mask”. At the spring Paris Salon of 1899, she was awarded the bronze medal of the Academy of Fine Arts for the sculpture “The Old Age”. Soon after that, Anna Golubkina returned to Moscow.
Golubkina created the plaster portrait sculpture of Mikhail Lermontov in 1900. She painted it with black gouache. The bust is 65 cm high, and the base area measures 41×45 cm.
The poet looks down, his eyes are slightly closed, and his gaze is thoughtful. The big mustache is upwardly curled, the hair is swept to the right side with a parting on the left. Anna Golubkina chose an officer’s frock coat with epaulets as Lermontov’s attire.
The coat collar is unbuttoned; this image alludes to the watercolor portraits of Lermontov by Alexander Julius Klünder. The shoulders of the bust are truncated. This work was commissioned by Vera Firsanova: in 1869, her father bought the estate where Mikhail Lermontov had lived for some time. After the revolution, the estate and the railway station were renamed from Firsanovka to Mtsyri.
In 1903, Anna Golubkina created the relief “The Wave” on the façade over the entrance of the Moscow Art Theater. From 1910, she lived and worked in her workshop on Bolshoy Levshinsky Lane. Her sculptural works are housed in the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and the Musée d’Orsay.
Throughout her career, Anna Golubkina created many famous works including portraits of Leo Tolstoy, Aleksey Remizov, Andrei Bely, Vladimir Ern, Aleksey Tolstoy, and others. Golubkina, like many other people of art, was interested in exploring the image of Mikhail Lermontov, one of the greatest Russian poets.
