Andrey Nikolaevich Kovalchuk

Andrey Nikolaevich Kovalchuk (born September 7, 1959, Moscow, USSR) is a Soviet and Russian sculptor, teacher, and professor. He has been Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts since 2025 and Chairman of the Board of the Union of Artists of Russia since 2009. He has created numerous portrayals of historical figures of Russia: poets, artists, state and religious leaders. He became a full member (academician) of the RAA in 2011, corresponding member since 2001. He is a People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2003), laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2007), the State Prize of the Russian Federation named after G. K. Zhukov (2021), and the Government of the Russian Federation Prize (2005).

Born in 1959 into the family of architect Nikolai Adamovich Kovalchuk, he spent childhood time in art studios. In 1971, while in fifth grade, he enrolled in a children's art school in Moscow, focusing on sculpture. He graduated from the children's art school in 1976 and entered the Moscow Higher School of Art and Industry the same year, majoring in sculpture.

At the School of Art and Industry, he studied monumental and decorative arts under Professor G. A. Schulz and graduated in 1981 at the age of 22. He then served his mandatory military service from 1981 to 1983. In the early 1980s, Kovalchuk worked in small plastic arts, created several portraits, and actively participated in exhibitions. In 1985, he was awarded the RSFSR Ministry of Culture award for a sculpture of writer Leo Tolstoy. In 1986, he created a plaster portrait of his wife, Elena, and was accepted into the Union of Artists of the USSR. In 1988, he won first prize for his Chernobyl victims monument project in Moscow. From 1988 to 1993, he developed this into a memorial depicting a man trying to protect the Earth from nuclear threat, unveiled in 1993 at Mitino Cemetery, Moscow. This marked the beginning of his career as a monumental sculptor.

Throughout his career, Kovalchuk held positions in various artists' unions and created a series of significant public monuments and memorials, often collaborating with his architect father. Notable works include monuments to Admiral Ushakov, Alexander Pushkin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and memorials for WWII heroes, as well as international commissions. He has received numerous state and professional awards and served in public and cultural councils in Russia.