Biography

Russian sculptor. The son of a cowherd from Tsarskoye Selo, he studied (1759-67) at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg under Nicolas-François Gillet, and he completed his education in Paris (1767-69) under Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II and in Rome (1769-72). The only surviving example of Gordeyev's work from this period is a statue of Prometheus (plaster, 1769; Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), which shows his classical orientation. He returned to Russia in 1772 and soon began teaching at the Academy of Arts. From 1777 he was in charge of the sculpture class there, and he was a professor from 1782. In this capacity he supervised all sculptural works in progress in Russia. He was also a prolific sculptor. In his last creative period, he produced funerary monuments in classical style.