Marfinka

Mediums: marble.
Location: the S.T. Konenkova State Museum of Sculpture, Smolensk (Russia).

For the portrait of Maxim Gorky’s granddaughter, S. Beria’s wife, Martha Peshkova, and the picture of her daughter Ninochka, the artist got the first national award – the state prize. This made the sculptor returning from America a recognized classic in the USSR. The work was not an opportunistic move but was the fulfillment of a promise Konenkov gave to M. Gorky more than 20 years ago during their meetings in Italy. The artist then created a portrait of the writer – cast in bronze; it is in the Museum of A. M. Gorky in Moscow. Martha Peshkova turned 19 when Sergey Konenkov fulfilled the promise he gave to her grandfather on Capri. One of the copies of “Martha” is exhibited at the Serpukhov Museum of History and Art. Martha sold the original work to the Sochi Museum of Art at the times that were hard for her.