Kustodiev was fascinated by the sculpture in the 1900s and was actively engaged in it for a decade. These studies were interrupted by a severe illness that had developed – they became simply unbearable for the artist. In the years 1908-12, he created a considerable number of sculptural portraits – all of them are distinguished by the severity and laconism of the forms with the impressionistic “character” of the poses and the emotionality of the silhouettes.
The sculptural portrait “Children”, representing to us the children of the artist, belongs to the same series. In general, the wife and children are one of the main heroes of all Kustodiev creativity, and no matter how different their “faces” created during his various periods are, they bring together a generalized image of the artist’s family, and this image tends to become an ideal Russian image. families. The Kustodiyev sketch of the sculptural composition “Mother with a child”, 1910, made in memory of the artist’s youngest son, Igor, differs in piercing sound and expression.
Cityscape with a troika by Boris Kustodiev 
Children in fancy dress by Boris Kustodiev 
Portrait of R. I. Notgaft by Boris Kustodiev 
Portrait of the composer D. V. Morozov by Boris Kustodiev 
On the terrace by Boris Kustodiev 
Square on the outskirts of the city by Boris Kustodiev 
Beauty by Boris Kustodiev 
Portrait of I. Ya. Bilibin by Boris Kustodiev