This painted figurine of Ivan Goncharov was made by a famous Russian artist and caricaturist Nikolay Stepanov from Saint Petersburg. In the late 1840s, he created a whole series of 80 caricature figurines portraying famous representatives of Russian culture. Despite being grotesque, they still bore a resemblance to their originals.
When Stepanov’s figurines appeared in the shops, they gained popularity right from the start. Soon they were available not only in Moscow and Saint Petersburg but in other Russian cities as well. The demand was so high that Stepanov decided to open another workshop solely for figurines and hire moulders. The artist made figurine prototypes from wax, and then the moulders would make plaster copies and paint them.
Ivan Goncharov purchased two such caricature figurines — one of himself and the other of a Russian writer Thaddeus Bulgarin. He later gave both of them to one of his younger sisters’ — Alexandra Kirmalova. Although he knew for a fact that the figurines had been made by Stepanov, for some reason he did not mention the artist’s name in the accompanying letter.
These two figures are currently housed by the Ulyanovsk Museum of Local History named after Ivan Goncharov. The full-length figurine of Ivan Goncharov rests on a solid rectangular mount.
Nikolay Stepanov also drew caricatures for the Russian magazines “Syn Otechestva” and “Illustrirovanny Almanac”. In 1855–1856, he published several albums of caricatures. In 1859, along with a poet Vasily Kurochkin, Stepanov co-founded and co-edited the satirical magazine “Iskra”, and in 1865, he launched another magazine called “Budilnik”. Overall, he contributed more than 1600 sketches and caricatures to them.
Ivan Goncharov did not escape the satirical eye of Stepanov, who portrayed him as a severe censor. Upon first seeing such a portrait of himself, Goncharov exclaimed,
When Stepanov’s figurines appeared in the shops, they gained popularity right from the start. Soon they were available not only in Moscow and Saint Petersburg but in other Russian cities as well. The demand was so high that Stepanov decided to open another workshop solely for figurines and hire moulders. The artist made figurine prototypes from wax, and then the moulders would make plaster copies and paint them.
Ivan Goncharov purchased two such caricature figurines — one of himself and the other of a Russian writer Thaddeus Bulgarin. He later gave both of them to one of his younger sisters’ — Alexandra Kirmalova. Although he knew for a fact that the figurines had been made by Stepanov, for some reason he did not mention the artist’s name in the accompanying letter.
These two figures are currently housed by the Ulyanovsk Museum of Local History named after Ivan Goncharov. The full-length figurine of Ivan Goncharov rests on a solid rectangular mount.
Nikolay Stepanov also drew caricatures for the Russian magazines “Syn Otechestva” and “Illustrirovanny Almanac”. In 1855–1856, he published several albums of caricatures. In 1859, along with a poet Vasily Kurochkin, Stepanov co-founded and co-edited the satirical magazine “Iskra”, and in 1865, he launched another magazine called “Budilnik”. Overall, he contributed more than 1600 sketches and caricatures to them.
Ivan Goncharov did not escape the satirical eye of Stepanov, who portrayed him as a severe censor. Upon first seeing such a portrait of himself, Goncharov exclaimed,
