Marina Semenova

Mediums: plaster.
Location: The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia).

Mukhina first sculpted M. Semenova in wax in 1936 (statuettes of the moment of flight-jump and whirling were not preserved). In the spring of 1941 and the summer, during the bombing, while living in the country, Mukhina sculpted two female ballerinas at once – Semenova and Ulanova. Vera Ignatyevna did not paint the dance step in the half-figure portrait (a cut along the line of the ballet tutu is very unusual) – the ballerina was static before entering the stage. The intractable gypsum obeyed the master: it streams with the muslin cloth, puffs with a starched tutu, shows an inspired smart face with a barely noticeable half-smile, “Renoir’s” living curve of the back and lush but neat curls. In a non-classical appearance, there is a charm and perfection that makes us recall antiquity.