Worker and Collective Farmer monument (logo of the Mosfilm studio) in Moscow, Russia
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman is a meter (78 feet) high sculpture made from stainless steel by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, and subsequently moved to Moscow. The sculpture is an example of the socialist realistic style, as well as Art Deco style. The worker holds aloft a hammer and the kolkhoz woman a sickle to form the hammer and sickle symbol. The sculpture was originally created to crown the Soviet pavilion (architect: Boris Iofan) of the World's Fair. The organizers had sited 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 Victory of Samothrace and La Marseillaise, François Rude's sculptural group for the Arc de Triomphe, to bring a monumental composition of socialist realist confidence to the heart of Paris. The symbolism of the two figures striding from East to West, as determined by the layout of the pavilion, was also not lost by spectators. Although as Mukhina said, 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", after the fair Worker and Kolkhoz Woman was relocated to Moscow where it was placed just outside the Exhibition of Achievements of the People's Economy. In 1941, the sculpture earned Mukhina one of the initial batch of Stalin Prizes. 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.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Worker And Collective Farmer Monument, Prospekt Mira, Moscow, Russia, Eastern Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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