Denisenko, Marina (1923-2016)

Marina Vladimirovna Denisenko was born in 1923 in Kiev. She graduated from the Stroganov Institute in Moscow in 1950, where she studied under Motovilov and Polyakov.

Marina Vladimirovna served in the WW2 as a communications officer in 65th tank brigade and received several medals for her feats.

She participated in her first exhibition in 1955, and in 1957 she was accepted as a member of the Artists' Union.

Her favourite material was always plaster and bronze, and she made a large number of monumental sculptures for schools and sports institutions. The main works of her career include "Children with Doves", "Running Girls", "Young Football Players", "Children on the Bench", and "Children and Birds".

In the 1970s she moved away from the larger sculptures, and concentrated on smaller, unique figures in Dutch ware, of girls and small children.

All her works are very soft in their expression, showing the daily life and play of the young ones, without cares or worries.

In her own words: "The only objects I ever wanted to depict in my sculptures and figures were children. I always turned down commissions related to Socialism and heavy industry. Somehow - I don't know why - that was accepted."

Marina Vladimirovna's husband, artist Konstantin Gneushev, is a well-known Moscow painter and monumentalist.

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