The focus of this article is the literary experiments of sculptors of the XX century. Literary searches of practitioners are a rare phenomenon of significant research interest. For the first time, a review of theliterary heritage of sculptors-practitioners of the XX century was carried out. Thislegacy includes: memoirs and autobiographies, journalistic essays, textbooks and scientific articles. In general, the array of these works can be divided into artistic and theoretical parts. The works of outstanding Russian and Soviet sculptors raise questions of understanding compositional techniques, the role of sculpture in the current cultural process, the specifics of sculptural material, questions of technique and so on. Literary practice becomes an organic continuation, and in some cases - the key to understanding the creative heritage of artists. The article assesses the uniqueness of these works for the professional community, their practical significance.