PROKOF'YEV, Ivan Prokof'yevich
(b. 1758 St. Petersburg, d. 1828 St. Petersburg)
Russian sculptor and draughtsman. Between c. 1764 and 1779 he studied at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg under Nicolas-François Gillet and Fyodor Gordeyev. Among his early works is a relief Ham’s Damnation (plaster, 1778; St Petersburg, Academy of Arts). From 1779 to 1784 he worked in Paris in the studio of Pierre Julien and then returned to St Petersburg, where he began teaching. From 1800 he was a professor at the Academy, and in 1819 he became Senior Professor.
In his Paris period he worked in traditional Baroque style, but returning to Russia he turned to the classical style.
