Russian Empire, Saint Petersburg

Model: 1873 Cast: 1878

Chopin Felix factory, Chizhov, Matvei

Bronze; casting, patination, embossing, mounting

Height – 155 cm

On the base: Лъпилъ Чижовъ ФШ; Fx. Chopin Fabricant de bronzes St. Petersbourg 1878

A sculptural representation of a barefoot girl with her arms spread out to the sides, crossing a stream walking carefully along the log. The figure is positioned on a round base with a relief pattern imitating water with water lily leaves.

For this work, M.A. Chizhov was awarded a gold medal established at the academy by means of A.F. Rzhevskaya-Kamenskaya and N.A. Demidov in 1875, as a reward for expression, and in 1878, at the World Exhibition in Paris, he received a third-class gold medal. Commissioned by Emperor Alexander II, ‘A Frolicsome Girl’ was cast in bronze and installed in Crimea, in the park in front of the palace in Livadiya. As the sculptor himself noted in his autobiography: ‘This statue that was cast in bronze by I.F. Gromov, and by Ratkov-Rozhnov, and by Myatlev, and purchased at an exhibition in Paris for the art lottery. Dozens of copies of this statue were distributed, and it is impossible to list their locations.’

Literature:
L.P. Shaposhnikova, Sculpture of the 18^th–early 20^th centuries, Leningrad, 1988, p. 159, No. 1389
State Tretyakov Gallery, Collection Catalogue: Sculpture of the 18^th–19^th centuries, Moscow, 2000, No. 394, p. 271.
Captives of Beauty: Russian Academic and Salon Art, 1830-1910, Moscow, 2004, p. 273.

Инв.3798/ИЗО