“Worker and Kolkhoz Woman” is a monument of monumental art, “an ideal and symbol of the Soviet era,” a recognized “standard of socialist realism.” It is a sculptural group of two figures, male and female, who are directed forward and raise a sickle and a hammer above their heads. The concept and compositional design belong to the architect Boris Iofan, and the author of the plastic embodiment is Vera Mukhina.
The monument was intended for the USSR pavilion at the international exhibition in Paris in 1937. It was designed and assembled in Moscow, then divided into 65 parts and transported to France, where it was mounted again.
The sculpture was made of stainless chromium-nickel steel, the lining of sheets 0.5 mm thick was attached to the inner frame, and the total mass of the monument exceeded 63 tons.
After the end of the exhibition, the sculpture was transported to Moscow and installed on a ten-meter pedestal at the Northern entrance to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition, VDNKh Park.
In Paris, the sculpture stood on a 34-meter-high pavilion. Due to inaccurate dismantling and transportation, the frame and cladding had to be significantly changed, deviating from the original project.
From 1938 to 2003, the sculpture was practically not restored; it was significantly dilapidated due to corrosion and environmental influences.
In 2003-2009, the sculpture was restored and installed on a pavilion that repeated Iofan’s original project for the Paris exhibition.
The Museum of Vera Mukhina is open in the basement. After restoration, the sculpture’s height was 24.5 m, the pavilion-pedestal was 34.5 m, and the total weight of the frame more than doubled and amounted to 185 tons.
Address: Moscow, Prospekt Mira, 123B, VDNKh metro station.
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