On one of my wanderings around the internet I found a fascinating article about the Abramtsevo, an art centre just outside Moscow. I'd been searching for figurative ceramics and a Google image search lead me to it.
These are the images that really spoke to me!
They were made by El Innocent, unfortunately I can find nothing more about the creator of these masterpieces. If you know anything please put me out of my misery and tell me!
These remind me very much of the work of Jenny Southam whose work I adore, and promise to tell you more about in my next blog.
A quick note about the Abramtsevo. The estate was bought by Savva Mamontov in 1870, where he established an artists’ colony. The group included Art Nouveau painter Mikhail Vrubel, Realist Ilya Repin, Impressionist Valentin Serov, landscape painter Vasili Polenov, and the Vasnetsov brothers, Viktor and Apollinarius.
Abramtsevo continues to be used as an artist's retreat and there is still a School of Applied Arts operating on the estate.
Link to the article in full: Clay figurine artists from Abramtsevo