Description of the attraction
The sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" is a monument of monumental art, a symbol of the Soviet era. The idea belongs to the architect Boris Yofan. The sculptural competition was won by the sculpture by Vera Mukhina.
The monument was made of chrome-plated stainless steel. The height of the monument is approximately 25 meters, and the height of the pedestal is approximately 33 meters. The weight of the monument is 185 tons.
At the beginning, Mukhina made a one and a half meter plaster model. According to this model, a huge monument was made at the pilot plant of the Institute of Metalworking and Mechanical Engineering. Professor P. N. Lvov supervised the work. The sculpture adorned the Soviet pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris.
During transportation from Paris, the monument was damaged. In the first half of 1939, it was restored and installed on a pedestal at the entrance to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (now VVTs). In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the sculpture was called "the standard of socialist realism."
In 1979, the monument was restored. But by the beginning of the 2000s, the monument required a major reconstruction. In 2003, the monument was dismantled. 40 individual fragments were sent for restoration. It was supposed to return it to its place by the end of 2005. Funding problems caused the restoration work to be delayed and it was not completed until November 2009.
The restorers have strengthened the supporting frame of the sculpture. All parts of the monument were cleaned and anti-corrosion treated. The monument was installed in its original place, but on a new pedestal. It was exactly the same as the original, built in 1937, but slightly shortened. The new pedestal is 10 meters higher than the old one. The monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" was installed on November 28, 2009, with a special crane. Inaugurated on December 4, 2009.
The pedestal-pavilion houses the exhibition hall and museum of Vera Mukhina. In September 2010, the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman Museum and Exhibition Center was opened in the pavilion. It houses an exposition dedicated to the history of the creation of the monument in projects, models and photographs.
After the reconstruction, the Worker and Collective Farm Woman monument became part of the Stolitsa Museum Association. In addition to him, the "Capital" includes: Moscow State Exhibition Hall "New Manezh", Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh", "Chekhov's House", the Sidur Museum and others.
