Leonid Baranov. Monument to Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Monument to Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Leonid Baranov, 2004)

A tribute to the great Russian writer, placed in the German city of Baden-Baden. Interestingly enough, Dostoyevsky lost much money at the tables at the gambling casino here. Baden-Baden was a favourite gathering place for the Russian aristocracy of that period. In fact, if I remember rightly, there is a lovely Russian church here done in the Russian Revival style of the late nineteenth century.

Meet the Artist: Leonid Baranov (the sculptor)

Leonid Baranov was born in Moscow in 1943. He graduated from Surikov Moscow State Art Institute and the N. Tomski studio, where his instructors were Professors M.Baburin and D.Ilinski. Mr Baranov participated in exhibitions in Moscow and in the regions, and exhibited abroad (in Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, Hungary, etc.). He is a winner of the Moscow Komsomol Prize.

The works of the Mr Baranov are in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, the Russian State Museum in St Petersburg, the Russian Ministry of Culture, the State museum of Art of Estonia, the Lomonosov Theatre in Archangelsk, in Peter Ludwig’s collection in Germany, and in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lodzi, Germany.

In the context of contemporary art in Russia, Leonid Baranov is regarded as a master of emotional and individual sculptural portraits of great figures in history and culture. He is famous for his art series devoted to Shakespeare, Peter I, Lomonosov, Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, and for his sculptures of the 18^th century century scientist Rihman, the military leader Suvorov, the composers Prokofiev and Shostakovich, the writer Tolstoy, and many others. However, Mr Baranov is most famous for his Peter I monument in Rotterdam. In 2004, a monument to Fyodor Dostoevsky by Mr Baranov was erected in the German city of Baden-Baden (where Dostoyevsky lost much money at the gambling casino!: editor’s note).

http://www.gallerysculpture.ru/eng/baranov.html

Well, rather a different figure than Mr Baranov the folk artist. Yet, they share the same name!