Unknown famous sculptor Isaak Itkind (to the 50th death anniversary of the sculptor)

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The sculptor is interesting for us first of all due to the fact that he was born in Smorgon into the family of the rabbi. The father hoped the son would follow in his steps. Isaak spent his childhood and youth in Smorgon. He studied art in Vilnya and later started his career in Moscow. When he worked as a bookbinder in the printing house he saw a book about the sculptor M.Antakolsky, read it and started to sculpture himself. A great support and help in professional education was given to him by the art professor Ferdinand Ruschits. 

I was impressed by the article “Van Gogh in Sculpture” written by Natalia Valynets in the newspaper “Grodno Pravda” in 2014. It encouraged me to organize the exhibition of Isaak Itkind’s works. This year we commemorate the 50^th death anniversary of the sculptor.

What is more, the main idea of the Year of Small Motherland is to remember and talk about the prominent countrymen. Being busy with our daily routine we often forget the most important things.

To organize the exhibition when you have no works is not an easy task. So I offered our local history museum management to enter into correspondence with the museums where Itkind’s works are kept: the Russian Museum, the Pushkin All-Russian Museum, the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and Alma Ata Kasteev Museum.  

Some museums answered our letters and now we have about 30 digital files of the sculptor’s works, which is of a great value for our museum. Itkind’s works are not large as a rule, they are made of a beautiful material – wood, which adds the sculptures some warmth and mystery. The key exhibits are compositions, the portraits of both famous and ordinary people who were close to the author.   But the specific feature of his portraits is either a subtle psychology, a mysterious smile and a heartache of a person or a tragic element of some historic events. Isaak Itkind didn’t creat the portraits of his heroes from nature and didn’t copy the nature for the purpose of  making it as similar as possible. He generalized a figure and even failed to follow the shape as nonprofessional sculptors do sometimes. He did it intentionally knowing that it makes the figure more expressive.

Itkind exhibited a lot of his works and became rather popular. The works were bought by different museums and philanthropists. But in 1937 Itkind was announced to be a spy and he was sent to Shlisselburg prison. After prison the sculptor had to live in Kazakhstan where he worked hard. Itkind lived a long life (he didn’t live two years to a hundred). He is an Honored Artist of Kazakhstan who left a great heritage for art and culture.

A high privilege for us is to show the residents of our town the photos of his numerous works.  In 2021 the museum and the whole town will celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Isaak Yakovlevich Itkind’s birth. He is our fame and glory.  

We invite our readers to visit the exhibition which will be opened in Smorgon local history museum at 3 p.m. on the 19^th of April.   The exhibition is open until the 19^th of May.  

Vladimir Terebun, the honored artist of the Republic of Belarus, the honorary freeman of Smorgon, the sculptor.