People
Wood and the human face in Isaak Itkind’s work
The Kazakhstan period of a sculptor who continued working after repression.
Published
This is a translation. The original is Русский. Language review: not performed by a native speaker.
Isaak Itkind worked mainly in wood. His early life was connected with Jewish religious education, but he later chose sculpture. He studied in Vilno and Moscow and taught at the Jewish school colony in Malakhovka, where Marc Chagall also worked.
After his arrest in 1937 and subsequent exile, Itkind ended up in Kazakhstan. In Alma-Ata, he continued making wooden sculptures. In 1956, the artist found work at a theatre, designing stage sets.
A documentary about the sculptor was made in 1967. Itkind died in 1969.