Girl with Butterfly

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Lebedeva took up teaching at the Free Art Studios in Petrograd from 1918 to 1920 and formed connections with artists like Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, and Nathan Altman. She immersed herself in local artistic circles and befriended influential intellectuals such as Maxim Gorky, Alexander Blok, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Vsevolod Meyerkhold. Lebedeva designed propaganda, including a model for a silver ruble coin featuring an anvil and tools in 1918, and created monuments to Georges Danton, Maximilien de Robespierre, and Alexander Herzen. From 1919 to 1920 she taught at the Stieglitz Institute in Petrograd, and by the 1920s she began working with ceramics while producing designs for the theater. She relocated to Moscow, where in 1925 she visited London. Lebedeva's career as a portrait sculptor gained momentum that same year with a portrait bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky. In 1928 she traveled to Paris and Berlin, exhibiting at the Venice Biennale, showing work there again in 1932. By 1934 Lebedeva had started producing ceramic ware for the Konakovsky Factory near her residence, continuing until 1936; she also continued creating portrait busts of notable figures including Vera Mukhina, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Aaron Soltz, Leonid Krasin, Vsevolod Ivanov, and Alexander Tsyurupa. Her portrait of the pilot Valery Chkalov in the Tretyakov Gallery stands out as an exceptionally characteristic work, showcasing energetic moulding that brings it to life. She also created sculptures of industrial workers. A few figure sculptures exist, alongside designs for three monuments, none of which were ever brought into being.