Worker and kolkhoz farmer
Worker and kolkhoz farmer ( Russian Рабочий и колхозница , Rabotschi i kolchosnitsa ) is a 24.5 m high sculpture made of stainless steel, which was created by the Russian sculptor Vera Muchina in the style of Stalinist socialist realism . The worker and the kolkhoz farmer hold up their tools, which together form the symbol of hammer and sickle . The group of figures initially stood in the Soviet Union's pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. It was then taken to Moscow , where it stands today. With today's base height of 34.5 meters, the monument reaches a total height of around 59 meters.
Factory history
Origin and installation in Paris
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The monumental statue was originally intended for one-time use at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. Wera Muchina and the architect Boris Iofan wanted to create a work that embodies drive and Soviet self-confidence. They were inspired by classic works such as the murderers of tyrants and the Nike of Samothrace, as well as the battle relief The Exodus of the Volunteers at the Arc de Triomphe .
The enormous weight was a particular challenge. The apparently fluttering clothes, the woman's head of hair protruding backwards and the two arms stretched backwards underline the impression of a determined forward movement of the figures - at the same time they fulfill a static function by shifting the center of gravity further back.
The approval of the draft of the group of figures was delayed, especially because Prime Minister Molotov, as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and member of the government commission, raised objections. Approval was granted on November 11, 1936. After only three months of construction, the figures were assembled from steel plates in March 1937.
The work was then dismantled into 60 individual parts and transported in 24 wagons to Paris on March 19, 1937 to crown the Soviet pavilion at the world exhibition that opened on March 25, 1937. This was 35 meters high and was designed by Boris Iofan. Directly opposite, in the other half of the Jardins du Trocadéro , was the pavilion of the German Empire .
Installation in Moscow
The monumental work of art drew a lot of interest and sympathy, and in some cases also enthusiasm. Even Paris was interested in keeping the “Russian Statue of Liberty” as a crowd puller. It was all the more popular at home. Thus, the group of figures was dismantled a second time and transported back to Moscow.
In Moscow, “the boy and the girl”, as Vera Muchina called their figures, were placed next to the north entrance of the then “All Union Agricultural Exhibition” (WWZ). The site of the WWZ (today the Exhibition of Economic Achievements ) is located on the Friedensprospekt ( Prospekt Mira in Russian ), a major arterial road north of the city center. The new base was similar to the pavilion in Paris, but was only 10 meters high. Muchina was disappointed at the comparatively low height and called the base a “tree stump”.
restoration
On the occasion of its application to host the Expo 2010 , the city of Moscow planned to fundamentally restore the monument after decades of neglecting maintenance work. Cracks and holes had been visible in the steel sheets since 1990. After preliminary investigations, the statue was dismantled in autumn 2003. In December 2002, however, Shanghai had already been awarded the contract to host Expo 2010.
The plan was to rebuild it in 2005 on a higher building, a replica of the Soviet pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair. After an investor withdrew from the project, there was a long delay due to the unsolved question of the location and lack of funds. Restoration work did not start again until spring 2009. Of the approximately 6,000 steel sheets that make up the statue, 250 were replaced, the other parts were restored as necessary and brought to a high gloss. The restoration is said to have cost three billion rubles (seventy million euros).
Re-establishment
After six years, the repaired and thoroughly cleaned monument was erected on a significantly raised pedestal in front of the All-Russian Exhibition Center (WWZ) on November 28, 2009 and immediately covered. On the evening of December 4th, the monument to the heroic worker couple was ceremoniously unveiled, accompanied by fireworks. Since then it has shone again in its authentic splendor.
Side view
(in the foreground a Moscow Monorail train )
The sculpture at the north entrance of the WWZ in Moscow
reception
The statue has been the image motif in the logo of the Soviet, later Russian film company Mosfilm since 1947 .
The motif of the two heroes striding side by side into a happier future was imitated in the Estado Novo of the Portuguese dictator Salazar , but on a smaller scale (see example on the right).
The statue of worker and kolkhoz woman , together with the Tatlin tower, is the motif on a Russian postage stamp from 2000. The stamp series honors outstanding Russian works of art of the 20th century.
A stylized replica of the top of the monument in frontal view, i.e. H. of hammer and sickle, serves or served as a logo for many organizations of the Fourth International (the direction of the "United Secretariat").
In the building Prospekt Mira 123 b , which serves as the base of the statue, exhibitions are held that deal with the theme and history of the monument.
Postcard for the 50th anniversary of Mosfilm with logo
Russian postage stamp (2000), on the left the Tatlin Tower
as the Ligue Communiste logo
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- ↑ a b c d The comeback of the giant sculpture Worker and Kolkhoz Farmer nbs-research.com, November 30, 2009
- ↑ a b Exhibition 2015/2016: The Worker and Kolkhoz Woman. Personal Case moscowmanege.ru (English)
- ↑ a b Art and Architecture Towards Political Crises: The 1937 Paris International Exposition in Context culturedarm.com (English). In the article you can see pictures of the two pavilions and two pictures of the installation of the sculpture in Paris.
- ↑ a b c d Kerstin Holm: The Russian Statue of Liberty: Workers and Kolkhoz Peasants Crown a Shopping Mall blogs.faz.net, Moscow Monitor, December 15, 2009.
- ↑ See photo series for restoration (January 2007): Parts of the dismantled plastic (Russian website)
- ↑ 2013 exhibition: “Workers and Kolkhoz Farmers” in happiness: In the Paradise of the Kolkhoz Moscow Deutsche Zeitung, February 14, 2013
- ↑ Permanent exhibition 2016: Permanent exhibition at the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman Center moscowmanege.ru (English)
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 49 ′ 42 " N , 37 ° 38 ′ 44" E