''Worker and Kolkhoz Woman'' () is a sculpture of two figures with a sickle and a hammer raised over their heads. The concept and compositional design belong to the architect

Boris Iofan Boris Mikhailovich Iofan ( rus, Борис Михайлович Иофан, p=ɪɐˈfan; April 28, 1891 – March 11, 1976) was a Soviet architect of Jewish origin, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like 1931 House on the Embankment a ...

It is 24.5 metres (78 feet) high, made from

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's r ...

by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World's Fair in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Richard Overy Richard James Overy (born 23 December 1947) is a British historian who has published on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. In 2007, as ''The Times'' editor of ''Complete History of the World'', he chose the 50 key dates of world his ...

, ''The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia'', p260 and subsequently moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The sculpture is an example of

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

aesthetic. The worker holds aloft a hammer and the

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

woman a sickle to form the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industr ...

symbol.

History

Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (Paris-1937)

The sculpture was originally created to crown the Soviet pavilion of the 1937 World's Fair. The organisers had placed the Soviet and German pavilions facing each other across the main pedestrian boulevard at the Trocadéro on the north bank of the Seine. Mukhina was inspired by her study of the classical '' Harmodius and Aristogeiton'', the '' Winged Victory of Samothrace'' and '' La Marseillaise'', François Rude's sculptural group for the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

,''Art and Power: Europe under the dictators'', 1995, to bring a monumental composition of socialist realist confidence to the heart of Paris. The symbolism of the two figures striding from West to East, as determined by the layout of the pavilion, was also not lost on the spectators.''Totalitarian Art'', Golomstock, 1990 Mukhina said that her sculpture was intended "to continue the idea inherent in the building, and this sculpture was to be an inseparable part of the whole structure", but after the fair, the ''Rabochiy i Kolkhoznitsa'' was relocated to

where it was placed just outside the

All-Russia Exhibition Centre Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...

. The grand opening of the exhibition took place on May 25, 1937 5 The USSR pavilion received rave reviews, and the sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" was recognized as a symbol of the triumph of Soviet art, the French press dubbed it "the greatest work of the 20th century" and the embodiment of the idea of "liberated labor" 6 Poet Louis Aragon and writer Romain Rolland, artists France Maserel and Pablo Picasso admired Mukhina's creation and called it "a striking, modern creation, a dynamic embodiment of the future" 334]. Even critics noted the overall expressiveness of the sculpture. In 1941, the sculpture earned Mukhina one of the initial batch of State Stalin Prize, Stalin Prizes. The sculpture was removed for restoration in autumn of 2003 in preparation for Expo 2010. The original plan was for it to return in 2005, but because the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

was not awarded to

but to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, the restoration process was hampered by financial problems and re-installation was delayed. It finally returned to its place at VDNKh on 28 November 2009. The revealing of the restored monument was held on the evening of December 4, 2009, accompanied by fireworks. The restored statue uses a new pavilion as its pedestal, increasing its total height from 34.5 metres (the old pedestal was 10 metres tall) to 60 metres (the new pavilion is 34.5 metres tall plus the 24.5 metres of the statue itself).

Use in media

In Soviet cinema, the sculpture was chosen in 1947 to serve as the logo for the

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output inclu ...

. It can be seen in the opening credits of the film ''

Red Heat The practice of using colours to determine the temperature of a piece of (usually) ferrous metal comes from blacksmithing. Long before thermometers were widely available it was necessary to know what state the metal was in for heat treating it a ...

'', as well as many of the Russian films released by the

studio itself. A giant moving reproduction of the statue was featured in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, symbolizing post-World War II Soviet society, particularly in Moscow.

Gallery

File:Russia-2000-stamp-Tatlin Tower and Worker and Kolkhoz Woman by Vera Mukhina.jpg, ''Worker and Kolkhoz Woman'' was among achievements of the 20th century in the arts to be commemorated in Russian stamps in 2000 (depicted with

Tatlin's Tower Tatlinʼs Tower, or the project for the Monument to the Third International (1919–20), Honour, H. and Fleming, J. (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing, p. 819. was a design for a grand monumental buildin ...

) File:Worker and Kolkhoz Woman.stl, 3D model, click to interact.

References

{{Coord, 55, 49, 42, N, 37, 38, 44, E, region:RU-MOW_type:landmark, display=title Statues in Russia Monuments and memorials in Moscow Colossal statues in Russia Outdoor sculptures in Russia Steel sculptures in Russia Socialist realism 1937 sculptures Relocated buildings and structures World's fair sculptures Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne Monuments and memorials built in the Soviet Union Sculptures in the Soviet Union Mosfilm Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy Sculptures of women in Russia Sculptures of men in Russia Art Deco sculptures and memorials Stainless steel sculptures Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow France–Soviet Union relations

History

Use in media

Gallery

See also

References