Alexey Alexeevich Korolyuk | |
|---|---|
Алексей Алексеевич Королюк | |
| Born | 16 February 1933 |
| Died | 10 May 2002 (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Volkovo Cemetery, Writer's Walkways 59°54′17″N 30°21′38″E / 59.904674°N 30.360658°E |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | Vera Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design |
| Known for | Sculpture, Medal and plaquette design |
| Awards | Order of Friendship of Peoples 1968 |
| Elected | 1st president of Leningrad medal club |
Alexey Alexeevich Korolyuk (Russian: Алексей Алексеевич Королюк; 16 February 1933 — 10 May 2002) was a Soviet-Russian sculptor and medallist, and the first president of the Leningrad medal club.
Korolyuk was born in Leningrad in 1933. He was passionate about art since his early years, attended Tavricheskaya Art School classes along with studying in local school and later entered the Department of Monumental and Decorative Sculpture at Vera Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design. He graduated in 1961 and was accepted into Artists' Union of the USSR in the mid-1960s.[1][2][3]
His early sculpture works include numerous monuments devoted to Great Patriotic War heroes and Soviet political and public figures, among the latter there are bas-reliefs for Saint Petersburg Metro underground platforms and sculptural decorations of Soviet nuclear-powered icebreakers Arktika and Sibir and space control-monitoring ships Kosmonavt Yuri Gagarin and Marshal Nedelin. But his artistic career was severally influenced by two injuries: he lost his legs in a tramcar accident and an accident during sculpting. Reduced mobility encouraged him to design small objects — medals and plaquettes.[1][2][4]
His first designs were presented at "Leningrad" zonal art exhibition in 1964 and brought him professional recognition. Throughout the following years he designed over 100 medals and plaquettes devoted to notable historical events, workers of culture and science. Korolyuk's medals and plaquettes were presented on numerous Soviet and international exhibitions including FIDEM congresses in Prague (1970), Kraków (1975), Budapest (1977), London (1992), Neuchâtel (1996) and Berlin (2000). The medal designed for Pasteur Institute received high praise from Monnaie de Paris in 1972 and was sent to Soviet space station Salyut 7 ten years later with an international crew of Soviet and French cosmonauts. As a medallist Korolyuk taught younger artists and worked on the community of medallists and collectors. In recognition of his contribution he was unanimously elected as president of Leningrad medal club, created in 1990.[1][2][3]
Alexey Korolyuk died on 10 May 2002 in Leningrad at the age of sixty-nine and was buried at Writer's Walkways of Volkovo Cemetery. His works reside in collections of major Russian museums including Tretyakov Gallery and State Hermitage Museum.[1][2]