Highlights
A collection of ceramic and welded iron sculptures by Leonid Berlin
Leonid Berlin (1925 – 2001) was a leading Soviet nonconformist sculptor, painter, graphic artist and illustrator whose diverse practice spanned welded metal sculpture, ceramics, painting, graphics and public mosaics. Born in Moscow, he trained at the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute under A. Matveyev and N. Tomsky before becoming a Fellow of the Artists’ Union.
His kinetic, welded works such as Formula of Explosion (1963) and Resistance/Requiem (1966–85) exemplify this inventive approach and are in major public collections including the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Pushkin Museum, MMOMA and international sculpture parks.
In 1962 he took part in the legendary exhibition in Manège, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Moscow Artists’ Union (MOSKh), which was visited by Khrushchev. Berlin is the author of more than 20 monuments, erected in different Russian cities. He decorated four underground stations in Moscow. As a sculptor he also took part in the production of such films as The Optimistic Tragedy, Andrej Rublev, The Song of Rustam.
Berlin was part of the generation that moved beyond Socialist Realism into experimental visual language. From the late 1950s he began creating dynamic welded iron and mixed metal sculptures. These works often incorporated found industrial elements such as crane parts or batteries, producing rough, expressive figures that challenged formal conventions and reflected social and psychological themes.
Alongside sculpture, Berlin produced ceramics, mosaics and painted works, bringing the same intense expressiveness to different media. He exhibited widely in the USSR and internationally, participating in landmark nonconformist shows like the Retrospective Review 1957–1987 and Different Art 1956–1976, which traced the development of avant-garde practice under restrictive cultural conditions. His final major solo exhibition, Iron World of Leonid Berlin, was held at the Vadim Sidur State Museum in Moscow in 1999.
Today Berlin’s art — from metal and ceramic sculpture to mosaics and illustrations — represents a rare, multi-modal body of work that bridges figuration, abstraction and material experimentation. Given the interrelated character of these series — and the way they exemplify a lifetime’s exploration of material, identity and form — selling these pieces as a single collection honours their conceptual unity and enhances their appeal to collectors and institutions alike.
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Vera Zaytseva
Leonid Berlin’s creative world was closely shared with his wife, Vera Zaytseva, an accomplished artist and stage designer in her own right. Working across theatre, painting, and ceramics, her expressive visual language developed in direct dialogue with Berlin’s sculptural practice. Selected works by Vera Zaytseva are presented here as a complementary body of work, offering collectors a rare opportunity to explore this remarkable artistic partnership.
Her work features at the bottom of the page.
