Once upon a Christmas
Paradoxical as it sounds, the legendary sculptor, laureate of five Stalin prizes Vera Mukhina was born in Riga in the family of a wealthy merchant, alien to any revolutionary sentiments. The girl lost her mother early and moved with her father to Crimea. At this moment, the eternal conflict of fathers and children appeared for the only time in the Mukhins' family. The merchant, who appreciated a sharp mind, unbending will and character in his youngest daughter, wanted her to continue the family business. But Vera had her own plans for the future life: she was passionately drawn to painting. In fairness, it should be noted that the father quickly resigned himself to the choice of his daughter, not without pride, noting that the girl really draws well. Young Vera with great talent copied paintings by Aivazovsky, located in the local gallery. So much so that sometimes it was difficult to distinguish the original from the copy. The world collapsed in 1904, when the family, following the mother, lost their father. Vera and her sister had to move to Kursk to the guardians - the parents' brothers. The girls were greeted affectionately: the adoptive parents doted on their pupils, regularly sent them either to Moscow for outfits, or to European capitals for a promenade. Over time, the noisy family completely moved to Moscow, settling on Prechistensky Boulevard. Happy Vera immediately enrolled in a painting studio with the famous masters of those years - Konstantin Yuon and Ilya Mashkov, and then asked to study abroad at all. At this moment, a terrible misfortune occurred in Vera's life, which completely changed her whole life. Once on Christmas, resting with relatives in the Smolensk province, a lively little girl went for a sleigh ride from the mountain. She recklessly lay down on the sled head first and rolled merrily down the snowy slope. Vera herself did not remember how it all happened. The sleigh flew into the tree, and the girl hit her head so hard that she completely lost her nose. The guardians were shocked. A doctor was called, who put nine stitches and drainage, and the servants were strictly ordered not to give Vera a mirror, fearing for her sanity. However, the girl, having examined her new face in the blade of scissors, did not fall into despair, but decided to devote herself entirely to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face. Vera herself did not remember how it all happened. The sleigh flew into the tree, and the girl hit her head so hard that she completely lost her nose. The guardians were shocked. A doctor was called, who put nine stitches and drainage, and the servants were strictly ordered not to give Vera a mirror, fearing for her sanity. However, the girl, having examined her new face in the blade of scissors, did not fall into despair, but decided to devote herself entirely to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face. Vera herself did not remember how it all happened. The sleigh flew into the tree, and the girl hit her head so hard that she completely lost her nose. The guardians were shocked. A doctor was called, who put nine stitches and drainage, and the servants were strictly ordered not to give Vera a mirror, fearing for her sanity. However, the girl, having examined her new face in the blade of scissors, did not fall into despair, but decided to devote herself entirely to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face. The guardians were shocked. A doctor was called, who put nine stitches and drainage, and the servants were strictly ordered not to give Vera a mirror, fearing for her sanity. However, the girl, having examined her new face in the blade of scissors, did not fall into despair, but decided to devote herself entirely to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face. The guardians were shocked. A doctor was called, who put nine stitches and drainage, and the servants were strictly ordered not to give Vera a mirror, fearing for her sanity. However, the girl, having examined her new face in the blade of scissors, did not fall into despair, but decided to devote herself entirely to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face.but decided to devote herself to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face.but decided to devote herself to painting and, with the consent of her relatives, went to study in Paris. Vera spent two years in France. Having a decent fortune left to her from her father, she entered the art academy to study at the sculptor Bourdel, a student of Rodin himself. In France, she underwent plastic surgery, returning an attractive appearance to her face.
Vera Ignatievna returned to Russia in the fateful 1914 - the year the First World War began. By the will of fate, she turned out to be a nurse in a hospital and was forced to serve many regimes, every now and then replacing each other. Alternately, Vera nursed either white officers or red commanders, depending on whose territory the hospital was located at that moment. It was here in 1917 that she met her future husband, surgeon Alexei Zamkov. It was a duet of two talented people. Soon Vera Ignatievna made a revolution in sculpture, and Aleksey Zamkov turned the world of medicine upside down by inventing a fundamentally new medicine - the world's first hormonal drug, Gravidan. The newspapers claimed that after the injection of the miracle cure, the bedridden patients began to walk, and the mentally ill returned to their senses. Nevertheless, someone wrote an anonymous letter,and Zamkov started having problems. Fearing arrest, he, together with his wife and son, tried to flee abroad, but in vain. In Kharkov, the whole family was arrested and handcuffed to the Moscow GPU. The accusation turned out to be absurd - the doctor was imputed with the intention to sell to foreigners the secret of his invention, which was recognized by that time in the USSR as quackery. And Alexey Zamkov, one might say, got off with a slight fright: the family's property was confiscated and sent to Voronezh, but no one was shot. Soon Maxim Gorky himself interceded for Vera Mukhina and her long-suffering husband. Together with Vasily Kuibyshev and Clara Zetkin, he stood up for the famous surgeon, whose patients at one time were Molotov, Kaganovich and Kalinin. The surgeon and his wife were not only removed from disgrace,but even created the State Research Institute of Urogravidanotherapy to promote the new drug. For his needs, Vera Mukhina even bought the only electron microscope in Europe with her personal savings, which came from renting out her father's Riga estate. But 7 years after the death of Maxim Gorky, the institute was closed, and Zamkov again fell into disgrace. However, this time neither him nor Vera Mukhina dared to touch the authorities, since the monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" has already gained worldwide fame. The legendary work of Vera Mukhina ranks among the most famous sculptural fupps in the world, although the history of the creation of this masterpiece is, oh, how difficult. Vera Mukhina even bought the only electron microscope in Europe. But 7 years after the death of Maxim Gorky, the institute was closed, and Zamkov again fell into disgrace. However, this time neither him nor Vera Mukhina dared to touch the authorities, since the monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" has already gained worldwide fame. The legendary work of Vera Mukhina ranks among the most famous sculptural fupps in the world, although the history of the creation of this masterpiece is, oh, how difficult. Vera Mukhina even bought the only electron microscope in Europe. But 7 years after the death of Maxim Gorky, the institute was closed, and Zamkov again fell into disgrace. However, this time neither him nor Vera Mukhina dared to touch the authorities, since the monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" has already gained worldwide fame. The legendary work of Vera Mukhina ranks among the most famous sculptural fupps in the world, although the history of the creation of this masterpiece is, oh, how difficult.although the history of the creation of this masterpiece is oh, how difficult.although the history of the creation of this masterpiece is oh, how difficult.
Erotica will not pass
"Worker and collective farmer" was not at all intended to be installed at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. For the USSR, which had embarked on the tracks of the industrial revolution, it was extremely important to show itself worthily at the Paris Expo 1937 exhibition. But there was practically nothing to demonstrate. According to historians, of the four rooms, three were rather sparsely filled with exhibits, and in the fourth there was only a sculpture by I. V. Stalin. It was decided to conquer the imagination of foreigners due to the monumentality of the building itself - the pavilion of the USSR. To participate in the competition for the sculptural composition crowning the monumental pavilion-pedestal, the author of the project Boris Iofan invited four sculptors: Andreev, Mukhina, Manizer and Shadr. Each was invited to submit his own version of the sculpture on the theme: a worker and a collective farmer,raised a hammer and sickle above their heads - symbols of the young Soviet state. Oddly enough, the sculpture of Vera Mukhina, which looks the most erotic, was chosen from the four presented works. The mighty half-naked body of the worker was slightly covered by a scarf fluttering in the wind. Of course, a Soviet person could not appear abroad in such an intimate form, and the sculpture was quickly dressed. The man got a work overalls, and the woman got a sundress with bare shoulders. Otherwise, the original idea of the author has been preserved. Moreover, the wise Vera Ignatievna dressed her sculptural heroes in clothes that could not subsequently be correlated with one or another historical period of time, making the composition eternal. The mighty half-naked body of the worker was slightly covered by a scarf fluttering in the wind. Of course, a Soviet person could not appear abroad in such an intimate form, and the sculpture was quickly dressed. The man got a work overalls, and the woman got a sundress with bare shoulders. Otherwise, the original idea of the author has been preserved. Moreover, the wise Vera Ignatievna dressed her sculptural heroes in clothes that could not subsequently be correlated with one or another historical period of time, making the composition eternal. The mighty half-naked body of the worker was slightly covered by a scarf fluttering in the wind. Of course, a Soviet person could not appear abroad in such an intimate form, and the sculpture was quickly dressed. The man got a work overalls, and the woman got a sundress with bare shoulders. Otherwise, the original idea of the author has been preserved. Moreover, the wise Vera Ignatievna dressed her sculptural heroes in clothes that could not subsequently be correlated with one or another historical period of time, making the composition eternal. Moreover, the wise Vera Ignatievna dressed her sculptural heroes in clothes that could not subsequently be correlated with one or another historical period of time, making the composition eternal. Moreover, the wise Vera Ignatievna dressed her sculptural heroes in clothes that could not subsequently be correlated with one or another historical period of time, making the composition eternal.
Stainless steel was chosen as the material for the monument, and the individual parts were supposed to be assembled together by welding. All that remained was to choose models for the statue, which was destined to remain for centuries.
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Worker or dancer
According to the logic of things and the political situation that reigned in the USSR in the mid-30s of the last century, a real worker and collective farm woman should have posed. However, it turned out to be not at all easy to find people able to stand in the right position even for a short time. An unprepared person physically could not freeze with one hand raised up, and the other - laid horizontally to the floor with an arched chest. To implement the plan, either a circus artist or a gymnast was needed. How and where they were looking for a "worker", history is silent, but in the end it was Igor Basenko, a former ballet dancer, who due to an injury retrained as a model. True, according to Igor Stepanovich himself, Mukhina sculpted only a body from him, and the head really belonged to a metro worker.
The strong-willed, high-cheeked face of a real worker was presented to the future symbol of VDNKh by Sergei Kasner, a professional wrestler, a participant in the Moscow and All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, who volunteered to be a builder of the Moscow metro. Once, in 1936, he, along with the sculptor's namesake, the hauler Zoya Mukhina, participated in the then popular physical culture parade. The rehearsal took place in the PKiO im. Gorky. According to the scenario of the holiday, the symbols of the Soviet state - a worker and a collective farmer, holding a hammer and sickle raised high up in their hands - were supposed to sail across Red Square on a high platform. Muscular Sergei Kasner played the role of a worker, and the collective farmer was instructed to personify the beautiful Zoya Mukhina. The sculptor saw with his own eyes the revived characters of the composition she was creating. Not surprising,that immediately after the rehearsal, the “worker” and the “collective farm woman” were invited to the master to be immortalized first in clay and then in metal.
Paris
After the issue with the sitters was resolved, Mukhina created the first one and a half meter model, which was then enlarged exactly 15 times. During the production of a rather complex monument, there were some incidents. The director of the plant did not like the scarf fluttering in the wind. According to the production worker, its presence made the entire sculptural group unstable to strong gusts of wind. Therefore, given the great political significance of the sculpture, he proposed to abandon the scarf altogether. But Vera Ignatievna insisted on her own, and the scarf remained in the same place. As revenge, the stubborn director wrote a complaint in which he complained that Trotsky's profile was guessed in the folds of the sculpture's scarf. Fortunately for Mukhina, the stupid complaint was not made progress.
After the completion of the work, the complex process of transporting the monument to Paris began. It was cut into 65 pieces and loaded into 28 wagons, sent to France. However, he could not get to the destination so immediately. Already on the way, it suddenly became clear that individual parts in terms of dimensions do not pass through the railway tunnels in Poland. The workers had to cut off the protruding parts from the sculpture again. A funny incident happened during the installation of a sculptural group in Paris. The fact is that delegations from different countries who came to the World Exhibition did not know how the pavilions of their neighbors would look like. Sometimes the intrigue persisted until the opening day of the exhibition. It so happened that the pavilion of Nazi Germany was located directly opposite the Soviet pavilion. Moreover, the Germans at all costs wanted to outstrip the Russians in the monumentality of their exhibition complex. Indeed, their pavilion with a swastika in the clutches of an eagle on the roof at first turned out to be slightly higher than the Soviet building. But the Germans did not even realize that a sculptural group more than 20 meters high would be additionally installed on the top of the Soviet pavilion. It is difficult to describe in words the shock of the fascists when the Russians began editing The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman. However, the Germans did not even think to retreat. In the shortest possible time, remaining before the opening of the exhibition, they added several floors to their pavilion, again hoisting an eagle with a swastika on top of it, from the side that seemed to be a funny hen on its nest. The Eiffel Tower, located exactly in the middle, became a kind of referee in the confrontation of the pavilions. The exhibition opened on May 25 and worked for about six months, until November 23, 1937, culminating in the complete triumph of the Soviet monument. The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman received the Grand Prix gold medal and was officially recognized as a masterpiece of 20th century art.
Long way home
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman "were so fond of romantic Parisians that the Soviet delegation made an official offer: to sell the sculptural fuppa to the city of Paris. The Soviet delegation refused. The sculpture was dismantled: it was again cut into pieces and sent by sea to Leningrad, from where it was supposed to return by train to Moscow. But it was not there! On the way, parts of the sculpture were badly crumpled and deformed. Only the hand of the "worker" and one of the heads reached the house intact. The "harmful" director of the plant had to re-create the entire sculptural group. True, now they used two-millimeter steel sheets - four times thicker than the previous ones. As soon as "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman" was "born" anew, they were placed in front of the Northern entrance of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. But the builders were greedy with the pedestal,by placing giant figures on a foundation three times lower than what was in Paris. The authors of the monument jokingly nicknamed the new pedestal "hemp" and fought to change it. Until the end of her life, Vera Ignatievna Mukhina tried to convince the authorities to remove the unsightly stand, but in vain. Only after many years of restoration, in 2009, "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" was erected on a new pedestal 34.5 meters high, which was originally intended and was a complete copy of the pedestal-pavilion presented at the World Exhibition in Paris."The worker and the collective farmer" was erected on a new pedestal 34.5 meters high, which was originally intended and was a complete copy of the pedestal-pavilion presented at the World Exhibition in Paris."The worker and the collective farmer" was erected on a new pedestal 34.5 meters high, which was originally intended and was a complete copy of the pedestal-pavilion presented at the World Exhibition in Paris.
Brings good luck
It was considered a good sign among the Moscow elite to have their own sculpture by Vera Mukhina. It was as if everyone she sculpted was soon getting serious promotions. The incident with General of Artillery Voronov is typical. According to legend, for the last posing session for the eminent sculptor, he came with a box of champagne, telling an amazing story. It turns out that at that time there were no marshals in the artillery, and his colleagues wondered how the general's further career would develop after working with Vera Ignatievna. And on the way to the last session, Voronov accidentally bought a newspaper, from which he was surprised to learn that from that moment in the army the post of marshal of artillery was introduced, which he soon received.
Do you know that…
Vera Mukhina personally knew many leaders of the Soviet state and more than once proposed to move the "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" from VDNKh to a more suitable place, in her opinion. So, she wanted to install the sculpture on the spit of the Moskva River - where Peter the Great by Tsereteli stands today. The second place she called the observation deck of Moscow State University. However, no one listened to her arguments.
Magazine: Archives of the 20th century №3, Dmitry Tumanov
