Vera Mukhina by Mikhail NesterovHave you seen the new digitized LIFE photo archive at Google
Images? I especially enjoyed browsing the World's Fair photos
and since I am so into all things Russian at the moment, the Vera
Mukhina sculpture caught my eye. She was without doubt the
Soviet Union's greatest sculptress and assimilated many artistic
concepts including Social Realism, Cubism and Futurism. She was
an artist of tremendous creative drive and fiery temperament.
Her most famous work is the stainless steel monumental sculpture
Rabochy i Kolhoznitsa (The Worker and Collective Farm Girl).
It is a mammoth 79 feet in height and was first exhibited on top of
the Soviet Pavilion at the Paris World's Fair in 1937. Produced in
65 separate laminated stainless steel pieces weighing 75 tons, it is
now located close to the site of the All Russia Exhibition Center
(VDNKh) in Moscow.
Images? I especially enjoyed browsing the World's Fair photos
and since I am so into all things Russian at the moment, the Vera
Mukhina sculpture caught my eye. She was without doubt the
Soviet Union's greatest sculptress and assimilated many artistic
concepts including Social Realism, Cubism and Futurism. She was
an artist of tremendous creative drive and fiery temperament.
Her most famous work is the stainless steel monumental sculpture
Rabochy i Kolhoznitsa (The Worker and Collective Farm Girl).
It is a mammoth 79 feet in height and was first exhibited on top of
the Soviet Pavilion at the Paris World's Fair in 1937. Produced in
65 separate laminated stainless steel pieces weighing 75 tons, it is
now located close to the site of the All Russia Exhibition Center
(VDNKh) in Moscow.
This woman is as monumental as his sculptures! A vous couper le souffle (In english: "breathtaking"?).
ReplyDeleteAll of which I didnt know so thanks for this story. Wonderful. Do you know Natalya's blog. She was born in Russia but now lives in the USA. She does fiber art and sometimes shows photos of her yearly return to Russia. I am wondering why you are into all things Russian. When I stayed at the Millay Art Colony I met a man, a writer, who was born in Russia, still had the accent. Quite an interesting fellow. He has written several books, one of non-fiction about his growing up in Russia. At the mo, the book name escapes me. Be well, Suki
ReplyDeleteVery interesting stuff. I know very little, in fact, nothing of Russian art, most especially Soviet. Thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteHAMSTER is nick name for Bellingham. so, when you ask really? answer i guess, is really, yes no. Interesting post. Awesome sculptor whom I did not know about until you. thank you- BIG thank you!
ReplyDeleteSo, did anything noteworthy happen on 11/11?
ReplyDeleteHi Strider! No, actually nothing noteworthy and I was very glad. I was happy to wake up alive. ;^)
ReplyDeleteSuki, WT has done quite a bit of traveling in Russia and we have entertained Russian business people at the Manor. I recently read Doctor Zhivago again and it refreshed my interest, so I had to watch all my Russian films...Onegin, both Zhivagos and Burnt by the Sun. And got out my Chekhov stories. I am fascinated by the culture.
ReplyDeleteoh my, can you imagine working on that large of scale? i went thru a russian obsession in my twenties. such an interesting culture!
ReplyDeleteI really hate that Europe's online library crashed but can't wait until its up again. Here's the link in case you don't have it bookmarked.
ReplyDeletehttp://dev.europeana.eu/
Wonderful! I've always thought sculptures had so much talent...even more than other artists. They amaze me!
ReplyDeletedid not know her either- and now i do
ReplyDeleteAmazing scale of that figure! Stunning! I love the painting, too!
ReplyDeleteLove that last photo.
ReplyDeleteWillow I have to head over to Google! I love Russian men, does that count? Seriously, I have studied the language and it was my minor.
ReplyDeletethis is epic and also a new artist for me - thank you so much for sharing this - also loved your sparkly silverware!
ReplyDeleteHello Lady Willow !
ReplyDeleteReally, a great woman...
Her sculpturs are beautiful...
Thank You for this post, and see You later !
Willow,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this very talented sculptress. Another demonstration of Russia's deep, rich creative talent in the arts. Hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving. You continue to share so much wonderful history on your blog. Catch you later,
The Bach
Hello……. !
ReplyDeleteVery cute all these pictures... Great…….
Welcome to my blog…….
Thank you very much for this post for various reasons. The first one is that I had already forgot about Vera, her being part of our indoctrination process in Cuba back in the 80s. She was part of the Soviet iconography we all had to go through in school. But as you rightly asserted in your article her art always stood out for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Life archive is now accessible to everyone! I left a comment on Tango Baby's blog last night regarding the same subject. It's such great news.
Thanks.
Greetings from London.
Oh, so am I fascinated by all things Russian. I have Onegin on my instant views I think on Netflix. I'll check it out. There are TWO Zhivago's?? And I cant recall if I saw Burnt by the sun. I do remember seeing an old old movie about Peter the Great I believe, Russian and quite haunting. Oh I adore Chekhov and wish I'd bought his complete works when I could. Solzhenitsyn lived in a town not toooo far from here in Vermont for many years.
ReplyDeleteIncredible...and very impressive.
ReplyDeleteWow, impressive sculpture! Thanks for introucing me to a new sculptor, Willow.
ReplyDeleteI always learn something new when I visit your little Manor. I now have a new artist to explore. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Willow, for the story behind the sculpture.
ReplyDeletenice blog
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ReplyDeleteWow! Those sculptures are breathtaking! Keep up the good work.
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it is nice job. keep it up and be financially free.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog about Vera Mukhina to be very interesting. My parents escaped Russia in the late 1930's. My mother's family name was Mukina. I always would hear stories about the "Sculptress" but my parents were very fearful about any contact with relatives back in Russia. When I look at a picture of Vera she looks exactly like my mother. My mother had many stories about growing up on the Black Sea (born in Simferopil)and how her grandfathers were sea merchants and sea captains. I have just began looking into my family's history and what an interesting history it is! I am a 59 year old teacher in Canada and would appreciate any more information. With thanks for the great blog!
ReplyDeleteLoritchka, it's fascinating that you could possibly be related ancestrally to the famous Russian artist! Unfortunately, I don't have any further info or personal connections to pass on to you. Good luck in your endeavors and please be sure to let me know if you find connection!
ReplyDeletenice post, thanks for sharing with us. This picture looks like one of our handmade oil paintings style Cubism
ReplyDeleteNice post, thanks for sharing with us. This picture looks really like one of our oil paintings reproductions style Cubism, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWillow, thank for sharing with us so beautiful job, i think this picture really seems to custom painting
ReplyDelete