The Tambov Art Gallery houses a sculptural portrait of the prominent Soviet statesman Sergei Mironovich Kirov. The work was created by the People’s Artist, President of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, and Academician Nikolay Vasilyevich Tomsky. In this work, the sculptor managed to portray Kirov as a man of the people: his simple expressive face radiates charm. The presented sculptural portrait of Kirov is a maquette for the original monument.
The People’s Artist of the USSR and sculptor Nikolay Vasilyevich Grishin (known under his pseudonym Tomsky) was born on December 19 (6 O.S.), 1900 into the family of a blacksmith in the village of Ramushevo, Starorussky District, Novgorod Governorate. He received his primary education in a rural school. In 1919, the young man was drafted into the Red Army and later wounded in action. After recovering, Nikolay Vasiliyevich returned to his homeland and started working as a clerk at the transit camp of the Starorussky military commissariat. In those years, the young man became interested in amateur performances and dreamed of becoming a performer. Then he came up with the pseudonym Tomsky, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. Nikolay drew bills and posters for the amateur theater and depicted his friends and acquaintances on paper in his free time. The well-known painter Vasily Semyonovich Svarog noticed Tomsky’s talent. The painter recommended that Tomsky try sculpturing. This advice decided the fate of the future sculptor.
Tomsky started working on the portrait of Sergei Kirov at the end of 1933. The sculptor even managed to show a plasticine maquette to Kirov himself. Sergei Kirov liked the portrait and agreed to pose for the final piece. However, this was never going to happen, as on December 1, 1934, Kirov was assassinated.
Kirov’s murder did not prevent Tomsky from working on the portrait. This work essentially put the young sculptor’s creative skills to the test. Tomsky made a number of versions of the portrait before he found the right image. These portraits of the politician seemed to mark the sculptor’s final establishment as a master of socialist realism.
The People’s Artist of the USSR and sculptor Nikolay Vasilyevich Grishin (known under his pseudonym Tomsky) was born on December 19 (6 O.S.), 1900 into the family of a blacksmith in the village of Ramushevo, Starorussky District, Novgorod Governorate. He received his primary education in a rural school. In 1919, the young man was drafted into the Red Army and later wounded in action. After recovering, Nikolay Vasiliyevich returned to his homeland and started working as a clerk at the transit camp of the Starorussky military commissariat. In those years, the young man became interested in amateur performances and dreamed of becoming a performer. Then he came up with the pseudonym Tomsky, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. Nikolay drew bills and posters for the amateur theater and depicted his friends and acquaintances on paper in his free time. The well-known painter Vasily Semyonovich Svarog noticed Tomsky’s talent. The painter recommended that Tomsky try sculpturing. This advice decided the fate of the future sculptor.
Tomsky started working on the portrait of Sergei Kirov at the end of 1933. The sculptor even managed to show a plasticine maquette to Kirov himself. Sergei Kirov liked the portrait and agreed to pose for the final piece. However, this was never going to happen, as on December 1, 1934, Kirov was assassinated.
Kirov’s murder did not prevent Tomsky from working on the portrait. This work essentially put the young sculptor’s creative skills to the test. Tomsky made a number of versions of the portrait before he found the right image. These portraits of the politician seemed to mark the sculptor’s final establishment as a master of socialist realism.
