Portrait of Timofei Konenkov

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To show the connection between father and son, who is depicted? It's the sculptor's father, but we don't have any information about him. A bust is a sculpted representation of a person's upper body, typically depicting the head and neck, with a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is usually supported by a plinth, recreating an individual's likeness. These forms can be made from various mediums used for sculpture, such as marble, bronze, terracotta, or wood. A parallel term, aust, represents the upper part of an animal or mythical creature. Sculptural portrait heads from ancient times are often displayed as busts, but these are often fragments from full-body statues or created to be inserted into an existing body. Sculptor and master of portraiture, Konenkov was a renowned artist born into a peasant family. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture under S.I. Ivanov and S.M. Volnukhin from 1892-1896. Graduating as an unclassed artist, he won the "S.M. Tretyakov award" in 1897 and traveled to Europe, visiting Germany, France, and Italy. Returning to Russia in 1898, Konenkov created the statue "The Stone Breaker," which earned him a grand silver medal in 1899. He studied at the Higher Art School in St. Petersburg from 1899-1902 under V.A. Beklemishev. After a dispute with his teacher, he produced his graduation work independently, titled "Samson Breaking His Ties." The Council of the Academy rejected it, and it was destroyed in 1905. Konenkov worked and lived in Moscow from 1902-1923, participating in the 1905 revolution as a military leader. In 1908, he joined the New Society of Artists, and in 1917, he became a member of the World of Art group. From 1912-1913, he worked in Greece and Egypt. He taught at the All-Russia Art and Technology Workshops from 1918-1922 and participated in an exhibition that traveled to New York in 1923, from which he did not return to Russia. Between 1924-1945, Konenkov worked and lived in the USA and Italy before returning to Moscow in 1945. He was welcomed with great enthusiasm and wrote novels of his reminiscences, including "My Age" (1971), "The Earth and the People" (1968), and "Floor to the Young" (1958). Konenkov became a full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR in 1954, a People's Artist of the USSR in 1958, and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1964. Konenkov was inspired by Russian folklore and ancient mythology. His creative work focused on main trends in Russian plastic arts during the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Social problems were present in his work (The Stone Breaker, 1898), and elements from folklore and fairytales (The Slav, 1906) influenced him. His wood sculptures date back to the 1900s and were created in the spirit of primitive art, where the texture of the wood played a remarkable role. Konenkov was able to convey the warmth of the living body, soft folds in garments, and the roughness of the wooden base.