Sergey Timofeyevich Konyonkov (1877 - 1971) is an outstanding master of sculpture. His creative work is a real epoch in the Russian and in the Soviet art. The sculptor was awarded to the highest rewards: a State prize and a Lenin prize; he had a title of the National Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; he was awarded to the title of the Hero of the Soviet Socialist Labor for his outstanding services in art. He actively supported the idea of creation of a museum of his sculpture in his native city of Smolensk and gave 41 of his art-works to the Smolensk people as a donation.

    The museum occupies a historical building in the center of the city. It's one of two museums (another one is in Moscow) devoted to the bright and original arts-men. The collection of the museum has been grown twice in number for more than 40 years. At present the collection is more than 80 unique works in number; the works of various periods of S. T. Konyonkov life are exposed and among them there are the well-known fantastic sculptures which attract the particular attention; the furniture made of stumps, snags and brunches of trees; sculptures devoted to the outstanding contemporaries - L. N. Tolstoy, V. V. Mayakovskiy, V. I. Surikov, A. V. Lunacharskiy;the sculpture images of scientists, literary men and artists. The art-works are made of wood, stone, metal, plaster and marble. Among the things exposed here there are the own things of the sculpture, his working tools, photos and autographs and a short letter among them. It was brought to Smolensk when some new art-works were given by the sculptor to the museum's collection as replenishment. The letter says: "I favor my dear fellow-countrymen with my art. S. Konyonkov".

    A new exhibition has been opened in 2005. It has the European level of organization. The visitors can hear the voice of the sculptor, they can see documentary films about the life and work of the great sculptor on a screen of the plasma TV-set, and alsothey can become spectators of theatre staging and musical evenings

    The museum is placed in a one-storied private residence of the Engelgardts' family. It has a mezzanine floor, that's why the roof has two pitches. After the Engelgardts the Smolensk Department of the Savings Bank became the owner of the house. It's a monument of the eclectic trend in the architecture of the second half of the 19th century. The main attention is devoted to the interpretation of the rococo forms and appeals to the decorative forms of the ancient Russian architecture. The architectural-and-decorative compositionof the main fa?ade is based on the mixture of these forms. There are fluted semi-columns and ventured completions of the window-casings with women's busts on the ground floor; on the mezzanine floor there are transparent grills on small balconies, shells on the pilasters and on the on the figured attic. The symmetry of the main fa?ade is interrupted by the volume of the main entrance, a lobby and a staircase adjoined from the right. A gateway completed with two slopping surfaces is adjoined to the left wing of the building. On the flank parts of the fa?ade there are modeled completions of the drawn up window-casings, sub-window niches and an arched belt under the crowning cornice. Above the cornices there are curbstones with vases. The other facades have smooth surface and narrow stepped cornices