Alexis Kamensky

Sculptor

Born 29 December 1883 in Irbit; died around 1 March 1938 in Shanghai.

Called "the only accomplished sculptor in Shanghai," Kamensky studied under Rodin in Paris. Since 1920 he was living and teaching in Harbin, where he authored sculptures for the Confucian Museum and decorated a bridge. In 1931, her relocated to Shanghai. For some time he taught at Hangzhou School of Fine Arts. In early 1937, Kamensky received a commission to create the bust of the poet Alexander Pushkin, to be erected on Route Pichon in time for the centennial anniversary of the poet’s death. Kamensky’s love of liquor, however, disqualified him from this job, and V. S. Podgoursky was appointed to do the bust, while Kamensky’s study of the bust of Pushkin was exhibited at the Alliance Française.

According to his friends, Russian artists Mikhail Kichigin and Vera Kuznetzova, Kamensky was increasingly nostalgic for Russia and started drinking, stopped working and generally declined. He died in 1938 and was buried at the Siccawei Cemetery.