“You can’t lie in sculpture”: the artistic heritage and creative principles of Alexander Apollonov (to the 75th anniversary of the master)

The aim of the study is to identify the key moments of the creative formation of Alexander Alekseevich Apollonov, an outstanding sculptor, Honored Artist of Russia, to analyze his plastic language by revealing the spiritual horizon of his works of art. Based on the study of Apollonov’s sculptural works belonging to various genres (interior works, memorial plaques, monumental and urban sculptures, ceremonial portraits, easel sculptures of small forms), the formation of a unique style that has developed in the mainstream of the Russian academic tradition is shown. The methodological basis of the work is hermeneutic analysis, which considers a work of art as a special way of meaning-making. The plastic interpretation of the images of the Person of Culture - writer, composer and singer, scientist, warrior and commander, ruler and philanthropist - the sculptor created is analyzed. The stages of the formation of Apollonov’s unique style are shown. The idea is substantiated that academic sculpture and, in particular, Apollonov’s works represent a special way of understanding the deep foundations and spiritual horizons of human existence. In particular, using the example of the monument to E.D. Bershanskaya (commander of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment of the Red Army during the Second World War), the presence of four traditional hermeneutic levels of understanding the hero depicted by means of sculpture in a broad historical, cultural and spiritual context (physical, allegorical, ethical, anagogical) is demonstrated. The works of art created by Apollonov combine the visual concreteness of a carefully worked out image with the ideological horizon of human life; therefore, these works are smart, accurate, truthful, and elegant. They are distinguished by the deep elaboration of the character of the heroes, their personality traits; the energetics of the living movement and psychological dynamism of the image, the reliability of portrait likeness and numerous historical details. The problems and prospects of preserving Apollonov’s creative heritage are indicated: search and recreation of his lost works; preservation of the creative atmosphere of his memorial workshop; organization of exhibitions and permanent expositions in the museum; creation and publication of a catalog of his works, as well as theoretical research on his work by historians, art historians and cultural experts; the need to perpetuate the memory of Alexander Apollonov in memorial plaques, names of streets and cultural institutions of the city and region.