This year, on November, 8th the whole world is celebrating the 145th anniversary of the birth of Stepan Erzya (1876-1959), an outstanding sculptor of the XX century, one of the main representatives of the Russian sculptural school.
Born in the province of Simbirsk in the Erzyan village, this artist chose to take the ethnonym Erzya as a pseudonym. The only difference was that he added a soft sign to the word and that way he got a resounding and memorable stage name.
The artistic heritage of Stepan Erzya is extensive. During his long life, the sculptor worked in many countries around the globe, including Europe and South America. There are about 300 of his sculptures that are remained to nowadays, but the destiny of many of his works is still unknown.
Erzya, called “Russian Rodin” and “Russian Michelangelo” created a large number of ingenious sculptures highly estimated by a foreign audience. Erzya spent almost 25 years in Argentina where he discovered a new material — the quebracho tree. Working with it, the great artist revealed new edges of his talent.
In 1950 the sculptor’s dream came true, he finally returned to his homeland. Erzya spent the last nine years of his life in Moscow, where his first and only lifetime personal exhibition took place. He lived the rest of his life quietly and modestly in his studio in the Sokol area in Moscow, often visited by the guests eager to see his works.
Erzya died at the age of 84 in his apartment while working. His heritage is an inalienable and important page of the universal culture.
Our foundation is proud of his service to art, to his Motherland, and to the whole world.