Mark Antokolsky

Mark Matveevich Antokolski (Марк Матвеевич Антокольский in Russian; born in 1843 in the city of Vilna, present-day Vilnius, Lithuania, died in 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany), was a Russian sculptor who was admired for psychological complexity of his historical images and panned for occasional lapses into sentimentalism.

He was born as Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky. Antokolski studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts (1862–68). He first began with Jewish themes, statues: "Jewish Tailor", "Nathan The Wise", "Inquisition's Attack against Jews", "Argument over the Talmud".

From 1868-1870, Mark Antokolski lived in Berlin. His statue of "Ivan the Terrible" (1870) was purchased for the Hermitage by Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Russian tsar approved his work and awarded the sculptor the title of academic. Mark Antokolski believed that sculpture was a social and humane ideal. In order to improve his failing health, he moved to the Italian resorts in 1871 and settled in Paris 6 years later.

In Rome, Antokolski completed the statue of Peter the Great for Peterhof in 1872, with its copies for Taganrog and Archangelsk. In 1878 Antokolski exhibited most of his works at the Paris Universal exposition, and received the Grand Prize. In 1880, the personal exhibition of the artist was held in Saint Petersburg, and he was given the rank of professor. Mark Antokolski left for Paris the same year, and stayed in the French capital until the end of his life. He realised here the following works: "Spinoza" (1881), "Mephistopheles"(1884), "Yaroslav the Wise"(1889), "Nestor the Chronicler"(1889) and "Yermak Timofeevich" (1891).

As disease of the artist progressed, he had to spend part of his time in Lake Maggiore in Italy, but he worked most of the time in Paris. Mark Antokolski died in Frankfurt am Main in 1902.

Ivan the Terrible, 1871
Death of Socrates, 1875
Angel
Spinoza, 1882
Nestor the Chronicler, 1890
The Peter the Great Monument in the city of Taganrog, 1898
Mermaid, 1900