Description
24.5 meter (78 feet) high sculpture made from stainless steel, showing a worker and a kolkhoz woman. The worker holds aloft a hammer and the kolkhoz woman a sickle to form the hammer and sickle symbol.
In front of the building are two wall with bronze reliefs. The reliefs on the long sides - with are on both walls identical - depict 10 republics of the Soviet Union by two agricultural workers, the emblem and a landscape in the background. The 11th republic is on the back short side of the right wall. On the short front sides are reliefs of Soviet citizens, the southern one with among others a man and wife with a baby and a boy with a toy air plane, and the northern one a man and woman with a girl and in the background musicians playing violin and flute.
The republics are:
reliefs on both walls facing north, from left to right:
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Belarus
- Azerbaijan
- Georgia
and on the small side (west) of the northern wall:
- Armenia
reliefs on both walls facing south, from left to right:
- Kirgizistan
- Uzbekistan
- Turkmenistan
- Tajikistan
- Kazakhstan
The republics of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova are not represented, since they were no part of the Soviet Union in 1937.
Russia - Ukraine - Belarus - Azerbaijan - Georgia
Kirgizistan - Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Tajikistan - Kazakhstan
Annotation
The sculpture was made for the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, where it crowned the Soviet pavilion (architect: Boris Iofan), subsequently moved to Moscow. The sculpture is an example of the socialist realistic style, as well as Art Deco style.
The sculpture was removed for restoration in the autumn of 2003 in preparation for Expo 2010. The original plan was for it to return in 2005, but because the World's Fair was not awarded to Moscow but to Shanghai, the restoration process was hampered by financial problems and re-installation delayed. See 2007 photographs of the disassembled statue.
It finally returned to its place at VDNKH on November 28, 2009. The revealing of the restored monument was held on the evening of December 4th, 2009, accompanied by fireworks. The restored statue uses a new pavilion as its pedestal, increasing its total height from 34.5 meters (the old pedestal was 10 meters tall) to 60 meters (new pavilion is 34.5 meters tall plus 24.5 meters of the statue's own height).
Sculptor
- Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina - Вера Игнатьевна Мухина (Riga 1889 - Moscow 1953),
Soviet Russian sculptor
(Wikipedia).
Sources & Information
Tags
Locatie (N 55°49'41" - E 37°38'48") (Satellite view: Google Maps)
Item Code: ru179; Photograph: 14 July 2011
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt
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