[2] After the Russian Revolution Lebedeva took a position teaching at the Free Art Studios in Petrograd from 1918 to 1920; there she became acquainted with Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, and Nathan Altman, among other artists.
[2] She also entered into the local artistic milieu, becoming acquainted with intellectuals such as Maxim Gorky, Alexander Blok, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Vsevolod Meyerkhold.
[4][5] She continued exhibiting in Moscow and Leningrad, becoming a close friend of Tatlin's and donating a large collection of his papers and artwork to the Central State Archive of Art and Literature in the 1960s.
Besides Donatello, Cranach and Rembrandt were among early influences on Lebedeva's work, and pieces from her youth suggest that at the time she had no awareness of trends in the world of modern art.
[5] Her future husband introduced her to the work of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Henri Matisse, whose art would go on to influence her a great deal.
[5] A statue of Seraphim Znamensky by Lebedeva is held by the Russian Museum,[6] as are numerous other works; she is also well-represented in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery.