Andreev N.A.
Sculpture. Head of V.I. Lenin.
USSR, Moscow. 1920-1932.
Plaster
12×11.5 cm; Diameter – 8.5 cm

In the early 1920s. N.A. Andreev created from nature a huge number of sculptural portraits of Lenin. Few of the sculptors worked on the portrait of the leader directly from nature. Only N. Altman, N. Andreev and K. Sheridan were able to work in the leader’s office.
In 1926 Nikolay Andreev was commissioned to make a sculptural portrait of Lenin for the Meeting Hall of the Council of People’s Commissars. Andreev accepted the order and for six years, he worked without showing his work to anyone – he was looking for an image.
Sculptural sketches, supported by sketches on paper, helped N. Andreev to create three chamber portraits during the lifetime of Vladimir Ilyich, depicting the leader at the table in the process of creative work.
Dozens of drawings and sketches made by Andreev in 1918-1932 are kept in the State Historical Museum collection.