UDK 130.2:008(1–87)

EDN DVMEAW

 

Poetess Maria Moravskaya (Moravsky) and sculptor Stepan Erzia: biographical and creative interactions

 

Klyueva I. V.

 

Abstraсt

The object of the study is the persons who were part of the social circle of Stepan Dmitrievich Erzia (1876 — 1959) and became models of his works. The subject of the study is the sculptor’s biographical and creative connections with a famous poetess of the Silver Age Maria Ludwigovna Moravskaya (Moravsky, 1890 — 1947). The relevance of this paper lies in the need to debunk numerous myths and misconceptions associated with the interpretation of the life and work of both creative persons. The sources of the research are publications by M. L. Moravskaya (poems, stories, essays, etc.), archival documents and materials of the Russian pre-revolutionary and foreign press of the first half of the XX century. The article corrects the biographical data of the poetess, highlights unknown pages of her life and creative path. M. L. Moravskaya’s acquaintance with S. D. Erzia in Nice in 1909 reveals the fact of her stay in France during that period. Based on the attribution and analysis of iconographic materials that captured the true appearance of the poetess M. L. Moravskaya, it is concluded that the image reproduced today in print and on the Internet, presented as her portrait, is actually a portrait of another woman who bore a similar name. The author expresses and argues the hypothesis that one of the best female images created by S. D. Erzia is a sculpture made in 1910, known under the names “Norwegian Woman”, “Abandoned Woman” (“Abondanada”), “Sadness” (“Tristeza”), is a portrait of M. L. Moravsky.

 

Keywords: Maria Moravskaya (Moravsky), Stepan Erzia, Russian culture at the beginning of the XX century, sculptural portrait at the beginning of the XX century, Russian abroad

 

For citation: Klyueva IV. Poetess Maria Moravskaya (Moravsky) and sculptor Stepan Erzia: biographical and creative interactions. Center and Periphery. 2023;18(2):97—107. EDN DVMEAW

 

 

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Information about the author:

Irina V. Klyueva, Associate Professor of Department of Cultural Studies and Library and Information Resources; Analyst of the M. M. Bakhtin Center of the National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University (68 Bolshevistskaya Str., Saransk 430005, Russia), Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0392-3228, Researcher ID: AAG-9748-2019, klyueva_irina@mail.ru

 

Conflict of interests: the author declares no conflict of interests.

 

The author has read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

 

The article was submitted 27.01.2023; approved after reviewing 21.02.2023; accepted for publication 01.03.2023.