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Porcelain sorceress and a lawyer

Works by prominent Russian sculptor-ceramist N.Y. Danko-Alekseenko (1892√1942) rightfully belong to the treasure house of Soviet porcelain of 1920s√1930s. Her fine and fragile masterpieces reflect the milestone events of the age. The present essay unveils the history of I.I. Rybakov, connoisseur of art and collector who contributed a lot to the life and oeuvre of the renowned artist.

According to memories of contemporaries, when in 1932 famous Russian poet Anna Akhmatova badly needed money in order to help Osip Mandelshtam, she sold ╚herself╩ ≈ a fine porcelain statuette, her sculptural portrait created by outstanding artist Natalia Yakovlevna Danko-Alekseenko. Once, while watching the sculptor modeling small figurines, Akhmatova asked her whether she was going to conjure over those art pieces. Indeed, porcelain art pieces by Natalia Danko are full of inner life and energy, and it seems that they are living.

First steps

N.Y. Danko in her studio. 1935. Photograph [zoom (53k)]

From youth upwards Natalia Danko√Alekseenko showed talent. She studied at private art studios and schools in Vilno (now Vilnius), Moscow and St. Petersburg. Among her teachers were prominent masters Leonid Sherwood and Maria Dillon (the author of a splendid memorial headstone of V.F. Komissarzhevskaya. At the age of seventeen, the young and gifted sculptor started working with such materials as marble and granite.

During that time, as part of the art team of V.V. Kuznetsov Natalia Danko worked on sculptural decorations of Moscow and St. Petersburg mansions erected by celebrated architects of the age A.V. Shchusev, I.A. Fomin and others.

Alas, World War I put a period to that booming business. In February 1915, V.V. Kuznetsov accepted the offer of E.E. Lansere to take charge of the sculptural studio at the famous Imperial Porcelain Factory. Natalia Danko continued working together with Kuznetsov at the Factory. It was a landmark turn in her life. Founded in 1744, the porcelain factory was created by the order of Empress Elizabeth to ╚serve native trade and native art╩. The factory produced wares exclusively for the ruling Romanov family and the Russian Imperial Court.

About one hundred years after its founding, the factory gained the name ╚Imperial Porcelain Factory╩. It then began to produce and market porcelain for sale to wider markets. With the abolition of the Russian monarchy in 1917, the Imperial Porcelain Factory was renamed ╚State Porcelain Factory╩ by the Bolshevik regime. During the early years of the Soviet Union, the GFZ produced so╛called propaganda wares, ranging from plates to figurines of the Soviet elite.

In 1925, on the occasion of the 200th jubilee of the Russian Academy of Science, it was given the name of the academy▓s founder, Mikhail Lomonosov. It was became known as the Leningrad Lomonosov Porcelain Factory The newly-christened Lomonosov factory produced a range of wares, including collectible animal figurines and dinner sets. The factory was seriously backed by the People▓s Commissariat for Enlightening, which was headed by Anatoly Lunacharsky.

Sculpture ╚Dancers╩ Sculptor N.Y. Danko. Petrograd Porcelain Factory. 1923. Porcelain, overglaze painting [zoom (56k)]

╚Long live artistic labour!╩

In 1919 Natalia Danko took charge of the sculptural studio at the State Porcelain Factory. The sculptor was the head of the workshop for twenty-three years; during that period she created over three hundred polychrome porcelain figurines, relief decorated vessels, a variety of sculptural compositions and desk sets. Being an expert in traditions and methods of Russian folk ceramics, Natalia Danko was also a master of psychological and social portrait.

The closest teammate and like╛minded person of Natalia Danko was her sister Elena Yakovlevna Danko (1898√1942). Notably, Elena Danko was the author of the majority of unique paintings of Natalia▓s pieces. However, despite of the obvious success of suprematist ceramic artworks by Kazimir Malevich, Nikolai Suetin and others with the Parisian audience at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Dйcoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts, 1925), the Soviet government stopped production of art porcelain at the factory. Since that time, the Leningrad Porcelain Factory produced porcelain wares for chemical industry and technical purposes, as well as tableware, insulators, ocular prosthesis, porcelain tooth jackets, etc.

In that difficult situation a lawyer and economist J.I. Rybakov did his best to support artists and sculptors of the factory. Being an experienced professional, he proved that production of porcelain art pieces was commercially reasonable, and as an eligible investment could bring hard currency to the factory. Rybakov did everything to preserve production of art porcelain at the factory. Finally, the administration of the enterprise overruled the decision to close the art studio, but took up a quota for production of art pieces ≈ five percent from the total production volume. In 1928, after the success at international art exhibitions and fairs in Paris, Berlin, Lyon, the factory started to produce popular and saleable porcelain figurines by Natalia Danko, Boris Kustodiev, and Dmitry Ivanov in large quantities for export. The first art studio oriented on creating samples for mass production was opened at the factory in 1936; the studio was headed by Nikolai Suetin. Since 1936 all the pieces made at the factory had a special mark ╚ЛФЗ╩ (Leningrad Porcelain Factory).

During five years Natalia Danko created over thirty porcelain characters and models. Interestingly, in her oeuvre the artist gradually turned from revolutionary subjects and technique of early propaganda pieces to the new themes related to the ╚socialist way of life╩. That way from early ╚Guerilla Warrior in the Field╩ (1919) to ╚Students of the Workers▓ Faculty╩ (1930, rabfak was the Workers▓ Faculty in the Soviet Union. It prepared Soviet workers to enter institutions of higher education) was not easy for Natalia Danko. In her artworks the sculptor managed to render the real life around her and portray different social types of her age: songsters, street ruffian with balalaika, a young communist girl wearing a red kerchief with a ball in her hands, laundress and many other curious characters. According to many Danko▓s contemporaries, the sculptor was greatly influenced by J.I. Rybakov, who believed that small porcelain statuettes perfectly portrayed important events of the age.

Well-known St. Petersburg-based lawyer Joseph Rybak (Rybakov, 1880√1938) started to collect paintings before the October turnover. His comprehensive collection included pictures by Leon Bakst, Boris Kustodiev, Vasiliy Shukhaev, Konstantin Somov and other prominent Russian artists of the early XXth century. After the revolution, Rybakov worked as economist and lawyer for Soviet state institutions. Although he was a very good specialist, he suffered from false and absurd accusations and finally died in prison in 1938.

Inkstand ╚Pushkin at Work╩. Sculptor N.Y. Danko. Leningrad Porcelain Factory. 1937. Porcelain, overglaze painting. [zoom (63k)]

Rybakov also did his best to revive interest of the wide public to art. Through 1929√1930, he organized a number of notable exhibitions: for instance, prints and drawings by Vladimir Lebedev, paintings by Zinaida Serebryakova, porcelain statuettes by Natalia Danko. As a rule, the majority of displayed pieces came from Rybakov▓s collection. In 1937 the patron of art started to write a book on the history of Russian porcelain. Rybakov also used to collect pictures by gifted young artists of the age: Yuri Pimenov, Georgiy Narbut, Vladimir Lebedev, Alexei Karev and others. Rybakov and his wife Lydia (1885√1953) were on a friendly footing with Anna Akhmatova, Vladimir Garshin, Natalia and Elena Danko and other renowned artists and writers. Rybakov▓s collection featured many important works by Danko (bronze and porcelain portrait of his daughter Olga, caricature portrait of Rybakov, etc).

Natalia Danko took part in many exhibitions in the Soviet Union and abroad. Her artworks were displayed in Paris in 1937, where pieces produced by the Leningrad Porcelain Factory received the gold medal of the International Fair. Alas, there was only one solo-exhibition of works by Natalia Danko ≈ it was the one organized by Joseph Rybakov. In January 1929, a small hall at the House of Culture in the Vyborgsky district in Leningrad hosted one hundred and fifty artworks by Danko.

The display was on view through nine months and was a great success with visitors. The showcase featured many compositions dedicated to revolutionary subjects (╚Fifth Anniversary of the Red Army╩, ╚The Builders╩ ╚Tenth Jubilee of the Soviet Power╩, inkpot ╚Lenin╩ as well as superb miniatures depicting scenes from everyday life (╚A Coward╩, ╚Fortuneteller╩, powder box ╚Tradeswoman╩ and many others).