Vilenskii, Zinovii

Born Oct. 3 (15), 1899, in what is now the city of Koriukovka, Chernigov Ob-last. Soviet portrait sculptor; People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1969), corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1954).

Vilenskii studied at the Moscow State Higher Arts and Technical Studios and State Higher Arts and Technical Institute from 1922 to 1928. He is characterized by meticulous execution and a thoughtful attitude toward the individual characteristics of the model. Vilenskii’s works include por-traits of K. N. Igumnov (plaster, 1939), S. A. Lavochkin (marble, 1947), and P. I. Tchaikovsky (marble, 1947) in the Tret’iakov Gallery; a monumental bust of S. E. Artemenko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, in the village of Ratsulovo, Odessa Oblast, and I. Kh. Mikhailichenko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, in the village of Almaznyi, Voroshilovgrad Oblast (both bronze, 1948-49); a portrait of S. A. Chaplygin (plaster, 1950, N. E. Zhukovskii Memorial Science Museum, Moscow); a monument to V. I. Lenin in Sochi (bronze, 1957); and a portrait of B. Russell (bronze, 1966, author’s property).