The name of the father of Vera Mukhina. Ballet of Vera Mukhina. Different facets of talent: a peasant woman and a ballerina

In era Mukhina, a student of the French sculptor Bourdelle, became famous thanks to the sculptural group "Worker and Collective Farm Girl". Against the backdrop of the everyday, illustrative understanding of realism that prevailed in the 1930s and 40s, the artist fought for the language of images and symbols in art. She was engaged not only in monumental projects, but also in applied art: she developed patterns for fabrics, sets and vases, and experimented a lot with glass. In the 1940s and 50s, Vera Mukhina won the Stalin Prize five times.

The successor of the "Riga Medici"

Vera Mukhina was born in Riga in 1889. Her grandfather Kuzma Mukhin made a multi-million dollar fortune by selling hemp, flax and bread. At his own expense, he built a gymnasium, a hospital, a real school and jokingly compared himself with Cosimo Medici, the founder of the famous Florentine dynasty of patrons. The son of Kuzma Mukhin, Ignatius, married for love the daughter of a pharmacist. The young wife died in 1891, when the eldest daughter Masha was in her fifth year, and the youngest Vera was very small. In 1904, the girls lost their father, and relatives from Kursk took the orphans into their home.

Three years later, the sisters moved to Moscow. Here Vera Mukhina began to study drawing and painting. It was the time of fashionable creative associations. Mukhina's first teacher was Konstantin Yuon, a member of the Union of Russian Artists.

Vera Mukhina. Photo: domochag.net

Vera Mukhina. Photo: vishegorod.ru

Vera Mukhina. Photo: russkiymir.ru

“Sometimes it was thought that he taught to combine the incompatible. On the one hand, a rational, almost arithmetic calculation of the elements of drawing and painting, on the other hand, the requirement of constant work of the imagination. Once a composition was given on the theme "Dream". Mukhina drew a janitor who fell asleep at the gate. Konstantin Fedorovich grimaced in displeasure: "There is no fantasy of sleep."

Art critic Olga Voronova

At some point, Vera Mukhina realized that she did not want to paint. In 1911, she first tried working with clay in the workshop of the sculptor Nina Sinitsyna. And almost immediately she got the idea to study sculpture in Paris - the artistic capital of the world. The guards didn't let me in. Then, in search of a new experience, Mukhina moved to the class of avant-garde artist Ilya Mashkov, one of the founders of the Jack of Diamonds association.

On the Christmas holidays of 1912, disaster struck. Riding down a hill on a sleigh in the estate near Smolensk, the young artist crashed into a tree. A branch cut off part of the nose. The bleeding girl was brought to the hospital - here she underwent nine plastic surgeries. “They live even worse,” Mukhina said, removing the bandages for the first time.

To distract her, relatives allowed a trip to Paris. Vera Mukhina settled in a boarding house and began to take lessons from Emile Antoine Bourdelle, the most famous sculptor of the era, a student of Rodin himself. From Bourdelle, she learned all the basics of the craft: “strongly grasp the form”, think about the object as a whole, but be able to highlight the necessary details.

Generalist artist

"Worker and Collective Farm Woman". Photo: voschod.ru

"Worker and Collective Farm Woman". Photo: mos.ru

"Worker and Collective Farm Woman". Photo: dreamtime.com

From Paris, Mukhina went to Italy with other young artists to study the art of the Renaissance. She stopped in Moscow, planning then to return to Paris, but the First World War broke out. The artist became a nurse in a hospital. In 1914, she met a young doctor, Alexei Zamkov, who was serving at the front. Soon fate brought them together again. Zamkov, dying of typhus, was brought to the hospital, Mukhina was leaving him. Soon the young people got married, their son Vsevolod was born.

In 1916, the artist began to collaborate with the Alexander Tairov Chamber Theater. First, she sculpted the sculptural parts of the scenery for the play "Famira-kifared", then she took up the modeling of stage costumes. In the 1920s, Vera Mukhina worked with Nadezhda Lamanova, a Russian fashion star who had previously dressed the royal family and now made outfits for Soviet women. In 1925, Lamanova and Mukhina published an album of models "Art in everyday life". In the same year they were invited to present canvas and linen dresses with wooden buttons at the World Exhibition in Paris, where the "peasant" collection received the Grand Prix.

As a designer, Mukhina designed Soviet pavilions at international fur and book exhibitions. But do not forget about the sculpture. In the 1920s, she created several well-known works: "The Flame of the Revolution", "Julia", "Wind". The "Peasant Woman" - a woman "made of black soil", "ingrown" with her feet into the ground, with male hands (Mukhina sculpted them from her husband's hands) received special delight. In 1934, the “Peasant Woman” was exhibited in Venice, after which it was sold to the Trieste Museum, and after the Second World War, the sculpture ended up in the Vatican. For the Tretyakov Gallery - the first place of storage of "Peasant Woman" - a copy was cast.

At the same time, Alexei Zamkov, Mukhina's husband, created the first industrial hormonal drug, Gravidan. The doctor appeared envious and opponents, persecution began. In the spring of 1930, Mukhina, Zamkov and their son were detained while trying to leave the Soviet Union. This fact was made public only in the 2000s, when a denunciation from Zamkov's former colleague fell into the hands of journalists. High-ranking patients and friends stood up for the doctor, among whom were Budyonny and Gorky. Zamkov "only" was sent to Voronezh for three years. Mukhina went into exile with her husband, although she was allowed to stay in the capital. The couple returned to Moscow ahead of schedule - in 1932.

"Don't be afraid to take risks in art"

In 1937, Vera Mukhina won a sculpture competition for a pavilion that was planned to be built at the World Exhibition in Paris. The original idea belonged to the architect Boris Iofan, who designed the Soviet pavilion:

“The Soviet Union is a state of workers and peasants, the coat of arms is based on this. The pavilion was supposed to be completed by a two-figure sculptural group: a worker and a peasant woman, crossing a sickle and a hammer - all my life I have been fascinated by the problem of the synthesis of architecture and sculpture.”

Mukhina proposed a solution in the ancient spirit: naked figures, looking up. The worker and collective farm woman were ordered to "dress". But the main ideas of the author - a lot of air between the figures to create lightness, and a fluttering scarf that emphasizes dynamism - remained unchanged. However, the approvals took a long time. As a result, the first steel plate statue in the USSR was created in emergency mode in just three weeks. Mukhina sculpted a reduced model in parts and immediately transferred it to the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (TsNIIMASH) for enlargement. Here fragments of the sculpture were carved from wood. Then the workers climbed inside the parts and tapped them, placing a sheet of metal only 0.5 millimeters thick. When the wooden "trough" was broken, a fragment of steel was obtained. After assembling the "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" they cut it up and, having loaded it into wagons, sent it to Paris. There, also in a hurry, the 24-meter statue was reassembled and placed on a 34-meter-high pedestal. The press vied with each other to publish pictures of the Soviet and German pavilions located opposite each other. Today, these photographs seem symbolic.

VDNH). The pedestal - "stump", as Mukhina called it - was made a little over 10 meters high. Because of this, the feeling of flying disappeared. Only in 2009, after the reconstruction, the Worker and Collective Farm Woman was installed on a specially erected pavilion, similar to Iofan's pavilion.

In 1942, Aleksey Zamkov died of a heart attack, who since the late 1930s was accused of quackery and unscientific methods of treatment. At the same time, Mukhina's best friend, Nadezhda Lamanova, died. Saved work and a new creative hobby - glass. Since 1940, the sculptor has collaborated with the experimental workshop at the mirror factory in Leningrad. According to her sketches and methods invented by her, the best glassblowers created vases, figurines and even sculptural portraits. Mukhina designed a half-liter beer mug for the Soviet public catering. The legend ascribes to her the authorship of the faceted glass created for the first dishwashers.

In 1941–1952, Mukhina won the Stalin Prize five times. One of her last works was a monument to Tchaikovsky in front of the Moscow Conservatory. It was installed after the death of the sculptor. Vera Mukhina died on October 6, 1953. After her death, Minister Vyacheslav Molotov was given a letter in which Mukhina asked:

“Do not forget the fine arts, it can give the people no less than cinema or literature. Do not be afraid to take risks in art: without continuous, often erroneous searches, we will not grow our new Soviet art.

"Creativity is the love of life!" - with these words, Vera Ignatievna Mukhina expressed her ethical and creative principles.

She was born in Riga in 1889 into a wealthy merchant family, her mother was French. And Vera inherited her love for art from her father, who was considered a good amateur artist. Childhood years were spent in Feodosia, where the family moved due to a serious illness of the mother. She died when Vera was three years old. After this sad event, Vera's relatives often changed their place of residence: they settled either in Germany, then again in Feodosia, then in Kursk, where Vera graduated from high school. By this time, she had already firmly decided that she would do art. Having entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, she studied in the class of the famous artist K. Yuon, then at the same time she became interested in sculpture.

In 1911, on Christmas Day, she had an accident. Riding down the mountain, Vera crashed into a tree and disfigured her face. After the hospital, the girl settled in her uncle's family, where caring relatives hid all the mirrors. Subsequently, in almost all the photos, and even in the portrait of Nesterov, she is depicted half-turned.

By this time, Vera had already lost her father, and the guardians decided to send the girl to Paris for postoperative treatment. There she not only carried out medical prescriptions, but also studied under the guidance of the French sculptor A. Bourdelle at the Academy de Grande Chaumières. Alexander Vertepov, a young emigrant from Russia, worked at his school. Their romance did not last long. Vertepov went to war as a volunteer and was killed almost in the first battle.

Two years later, together with two artist friends, Vera made a trip to Italy. It was the last carefree summer in her life: the world war began. Returning home, Mukhina created her first significant work - the sculptural group "Pieta" (Lamentation of the Mother of God over the body of Christ), conceived as a variation on the themes of the Renaissance and at the same time a kind of requiem for the dead. The Mother of God at Mukhina - a young woman in a scarf of a sister of mercy - what millions of soldiers around them saw in the midst of the First World War.

After graduating from medical courses, Vera began working in the hospital as a nurse. She worked here for free throughout the war, because she believed: since she came here for the sake of an idea, then it is indecent to take money. In the hospital, she met her future husband, military doctor Alexei Andreevich Zamkov.

After the revolution, Mukhina successfully participated in various competitions. The most famous work was The Peasant Woman (1927, bronze), which brought the author wide popularity and was awarded the first prize at the exhibition of 1927-1928. The original of this work, by the way, was bought for the museum by the Italian government.

"Peasant Woman"

In the late 1920s, Alexey Zamkov worked at the Institute of Experimental Biology, where he invented a new medical preparation - gravidan, which rejuvenates the body. But intrigues began at the institute, Zamkov was dubbed a charlatan and a "healer". The persecution of the scientist in the press began. Together with his family, he decided to go abroad. Through a good friend, we managed to get passports, but the same friend informed on those who were leaving. They were arrested right on the train and taken to the Lubyanka. Vera Mukhina and her ten-year-old son were soon released, and Zamkov had to spend several months in Butyrka prison. After that, he was sent to Voronezh. Vera Ignatievna, leaving her son in the care of a friend, went after her husband. She spent four years there and returned with him to Moscow only after the intervention of Maxim Gorky. At his request, the sculptor began work on a sketch of the monument to the writer's son, Peshkov.

Doctor Zamkov was still not allowed to work, his institute was liquidated, and Alexei Andreevich soon died.

The pinnacle of her work was the world famous 21-meter stainless steel sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Girl", created for the Soviet pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. Upon their return to Moscow, almost all the exhibitors were arrested. Today it became known: some attentive scammer saw in the folds of the skirt of the Collective Farm Woman "a kind of bearded face" - a hint of Leon Trotsky. And the unique sculpture could not find a place in the capital for a long time, until it was erected at VDNKh.

"Worker and Collective Farm Girl"

According to K. Stolyarov, Mukhina sculpted the figure of a worker from his father Sergei Stolyarov, a popular film actor of the 1930s and 40s, who created on the screen a number of fabulously epic images of Russian heroes and goodies, building socialism with a song. A young man and a girl in rapid motion lift up the emblem of the Soviet state - the hammer and sickle.

In a village near Tula, Anna Ivanovna Bogoyavlenskaya lives her life, with whom they sculpted a collective farmer with a sickle. According to the old woman, she saw Vera Ignatyevna herself in the workshop twice. A collective farmer was sculpted by a certain V. Andreev - obviously, an assistant to the famous Mukhina.

At the end of 1940, the well-known artist M.V. Nesterov decided to paint a portrait of Mukhina.

“... I can’t stand it when they see how I work. I never let myself be photographed in the studio, - Vera Ignatievna later recalled. - But Mikhail Vasilievich certainly wanted to paint me at work. I couldn't resist giving in to his urgent desire. I worked continuously while he wrote. Of all the works that were in my workshop, he himself chose the statue of Boreas, the god of the north wind, made for the monument to the Chelyuskinites ...

I fortified it with black coffee. During the sessions, there were lively conversations about art ... "

This time was the most calm for Mukhina. She was elected a member of the Academy of Arts, awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR. She was repeatedly awarded the Stalin Prize. However, despite her high social position, she remained a withdrawn and spiritually lonely person. The last sculpture destroyed by the author - "Return" - the figure of a powerful, beautiful legless young man, in despair hiding his face in women's laps - mother, wife, lover ...

“Even with the title of laureate and academician, Mukhina remained a proud, blunt and internally free personality, which is so difficult both in her and in our times,” confirms E. Korotkaya.

The sculptor in every possible way avoided sculpting people who were unpleasant to her, did not make a single portrait of the leaders of the party and government, almost always chose models herself and left a whole gallery of portraits of representatives of the Russian intelligentsia: scientists, doctors, musicians and artists.

Until the end of her life (she died at the age of 64 in 1953, just six months after the death of I.V. Stalin), Mukhina was never able to come to terms with the fact that her sculptures were seen not as works of art, but as means of visual agitation.

Mukhina, Vera Ignatievna- Vera Ignatievna Mukhina. MUKHINA Vera Ignatievna (1889-1953), sculptor. Early works are romantically elevated, laconic, generalized in form (“Flame of the Revolution”, 1922-23), in the 30s. symbolic (symbols of the new system in the USSR) work ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Soviet sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947). She studied in Moscow (1909–12) with K. F. Yuon and I. I. Mashkov, and also in Paris (1912–14) with E. A. Bourdelle. From 1909 she lived ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1889 1953), Soviet sculptor. People's Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947). She studied in Moscow (1909-12) with K.F. Yuon and I.I. Mashkov, and also in Paris (1912-14) with E.A. Bourdelle. She taught at the MVHPU (1926 27) and ... ... Art Encyclopedia

- (1889 1953) Russian sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947). Early works are romantically elevated, laconic, generalized in form (Flame of the Revolution, 1922-23), in the 30s. symbolic (symbols of the new ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Genus. 1889, mind. 1953. Sculptor. Student of K. Yuon, E. A. Bourdelle. Works: "Flame of the Revolution" (1922-23), "Peasant Woman" (1927), group "Worker and Collective Farm Girl" (1935-37), tombstone of M. A. Peshkov (1935), group ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

- (1889 1953), sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947). Early works are romantically elevated, laconic, generalized in form (The Flame of the Revolution, 1922-23); in the 30s. created symbolic works ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1889, Riga 1953, Moscow), sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947). She studied in Moscow in the studio of K.F. Yuon (1909-11). In those same years, she met the artist L.S. Popova, who not only ... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

Vera Muhina Vera Mukhina. Portrait by artist Mikhail Nesterov Date of birth ... Wikipedia

Vera Ignatievna Mukhina Vera Muhina Vera Mukhina. Portrait by artist Mikhail Nesterov Date of birth ... Wikipedia

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• Series "Life in Art". Outstanding painters and sculptors (set of 50 books),. Life in art... A beautiful romantic image, but how much do we know about what it means to live in art. We admire paintings and books, sometimes not even assuming that their authors died ...

July 1 marks the 128th anniversary of the birth of Vera Mukhina, the author of The Worker and the Kolkhoz Woman, the stone orator of the Stalin era, as her contemporaries called her.

Workshop of Vera Mukhina in Prechistensky Lane

Vera Mukhina was born in Riga in 1889 into a wealthy merchant family. She lost her mother early, who died of tuberculosis. The father, fearing for the health of his daughter, moved her to a favorable climate in Feodosia. There, Vera graduated from high school, and later moved to Moscow, where she studied in the studios of famous landscape painters. Konstantin Yuon and Ilya Mashkov.

Mukhina's decision to become a sculptor, among other things, was influenced by a tragic incident: while riding a sleigh, the girl received a serious facial injury. Plastic surgeons literally had to "sew" 22-year-old Vera's nose. This incident became symbolic, opening Mukhina the exact application of her artistic talent.

At one time, Vera Ignatievna lived in Paris and Italy, studying the art of the Renaissance period. In the USSR, Mukhina became one of the most prominent architects. General fame came to her after her monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" was exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937.

It was with the sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman", which became a symbol Mosfilm, as well as with a simple, at first glance, invention - a faceted glass - the name of Vera Mukhina is associated in the minds of the majority.

But Moscow is also decorated with other sculptures by the famous master, many of which were installed after her death.

Monument to Tchaikovsky

Bolshaya Nikitskaya 13/6

In the mid-50s on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, in front of the building Moscow State Conservatory erected a monument Pyotr Tchaikovsky, on which the sculptor worked for 25 years. In 1929, at the request of Nikolai Zhegin, director of the Tchaikovsky house-museum in Klin, a bust of the composer was made by Mukhina. After 16 years, she received a personal order to create a monument to Tchaikovsky in Moscow.

The original version of the sculpture depicted the composer conducting while standing. But such a monument required a large space, and it was abandoned. The second sketch depicted Pyotr Ilyich sitting in an armchair in front of a music stand, on which lies an open music book. The composition was complemented by a figure of a shepherdess, which speaks of the composer's interest in folk art. Due to some ambiguity, the shepherd was replaced with the figure of a peasant, and then he was also removed.

The project of the monument was not approved for a long time, and the already seriously ill Mukhina wrote Vyacheslav Molotov: “Put my Tchaikovsky in Moscow. I guarantee you that this work of mine is worthy of Moscow…”. But the monument was erected after the death of Mukhina, in 1954.

Monument to Tchaikovsky in front of the Moscow Conservatory

Monument to Maxim Gorky

Muzeon Park (Krymsky Val, property 2)

The project of the monument was developed by the sculptor Ivan Shadr in 1939. Before his death, Shadr made a promise with Mukhina to complete his project. Vera Ignatievna fulfilled her promise, but during her lifetime the sculpture was never installed. Monument Gorky on the square Belorussky railway station appeared in 1951. In 2005, the monument was dismantled in order to clear a place for the construction of a transport interchange on the square of the Belorussky railway station. Then he was laid, in the truest sense of the word, in the park Museon where he remained in this position for two years. In 2007, Gorky was restored and put on his feet. Currently, the Moscow authorities promise to return the sculpture to its original place. The monument to Maxim Gorky by Mukhina can also be seen in the park near the building Institute of World Literature named after A.M. Gorky.

The city authorities promise to return the monument to Gorky to the Belorussky railway station

Sculpture "Bread"

"Park of Friendship" (Flotskaya st., 1A)

One of the famous works of Mukhina in the 30s was the sculpture "Bread", made for the exhibition "Food Industry" in 1939. Initially, at the request of the architect Alexey Shchusev, the sculptor was preparing four sketches of compositions for the Moskvoretsky Bridge, but the work was interrupted. The sculpture "Bread" was the only one, the sketches of which the author returned to and brought the idea to life. Mukhina depicted the figures of two girls passing a sheaf of wheat to each other. According to art historians, the music of labor “sounds” in the composition, but labor is free and harmonious.

Sculpture "Fertility" in the park "Friendship"

"Worker and Collective Farm Woman"

VDNKh (pr-t Mira, 123 B)

The most famous monument to Vera Mukhina was created for the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937. The ideological concept of the sculpture and the first layout belonged to the architect Boris Iofan, the author of the exhibition pavilion. A competition was announced for the creation of the sculpture, in which Mukhina's project was recognized as the best. Shortly before this, Vera's husband, a famous doctor Alexey Zamkov, thanks to the intercession of a high party official, returned from Voronezh exile. The family of Vera Mukhina was "on the note." And who knows, they would have been repressed by the side, if not for the victory in the competition and the triumph at the exhibition in Paris.

Work on the statue took two months, it was made at the pilot plant of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. According to the author's idea, the worker and the collective farm woman were supposed to be naked, but the country's leadership rejected this option. Then Mukhina dressed the Soviet heroes in overalls and a sundress.

During the dismantling of the monument in Paris and its transportation to Moscow, the left hand of the collective farmer and the right hand of the worker were injured, and when assembling the composition in 1939, the damaged elements were replaced with a deviation from the original project.

After the Paris exhibition, the sculpture was transported back to Moscow and installed in front of the entrance to the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy. For many years, the sculpture stood on a low pedestal, which Mukhina bitterly called "stump". Only in 2009, after several years of restoration, the “Worker and Kolkhoz Woman” was set to a 33-meter height.

The works of the sculptor Vera Ignatievna Mukhina are considered the embodiment of Soviet officialdom. She died at the age of 64 in 1953, the same year as Stalin. The era is gone, and so is its singer.

It is hard to imagine a person of art who captures the general line of the Communist Party better than the famous sculptor Vera Mukhina. But not everything is so primitive: it's just that her talent came at the right time. Yes, she is not one of those unfortunate creators who were ahead of their time and who were appreciated only by descendants. Her talent was to the taste of the leaders of the Soviet state. But the fate of Vera Ignatievna is rather the story of a miraculous survivor. Almost a fairy tale about a happy escape from Stalin's clutches. The horror of that time only slightly touched the wing of her family. But in the biography of the sculptor there were a number of such points, for each of which she could pay with her head. And they lost their lives for less! But Mukhina, as they say, carried away. Vera Ignatievna took his death hard. But even after being widowed, she continued to sing of "the most just society in the world" in her creations. Was it in line with her true beliefs? She didn't talk about them. Her speeches are endless talk about citizenship and Soviet patriotism. For the sculptor, the main thing was creativity, and in creativity - monumentalism. The Soviet government gave her complete freedom in this area.

Merchant's daughter

The social origin of Vera Ignatievna, by Stalin's standards, left much to be desired. Her father, an extremely wealthy merchant, traded in bread and hemp. Ignatius Mukhin, however, could hardly be compared with the world-eating merchants from the works of Ostrovsky. He was a completely enlightened man, in his tastes and passions gravitating more towards the nobility than towards his class. His wife died early from consumption. The youngest daughter, Vera, was not even two years old then. The father adored his girls - her and the elder Maria - and indulged their every whim. Somehow, however, he dared to say: they say, Masha is a lover of balls and entertainment, and Verochka is of a firm disposition, she can be delegated to her. But what's the matter ... My daughter never let go of the pencil from her hands - her father began to encourage her to draw ...

Shortly after Vera graduated from high school, the girls were orphaned. With the guardianship of the orphans, the matter did not become: from their native Riga, they moved to Moscow, to very wealthy uncles - their father's brothers. Relatives did not like Verino's passion for art. She studied in the workshop of Konstantin Yuon and dreamed of continuing her education in Paris. But relatives did not allow.

As they say, there was no happiness, but misfortune helped: somehow Vera fell from the sleigh and badly injured her face, breaking her nose.

The uncles decided to send the unfortunate niece to Paris for plastic surgery treatment in Russia, things were not in the best way. And there let the unfortunate orphan do whatever he wants.

In the capital, Mukhina steadfastly endured several plastic surgeries - her face was restored. It was there that the main turning point in her life took place: she chose sculpture. The monumental nature of Mukhina was disgusted by small touches, the selection of shades of color that are required from a draftsman and painter. She was attracted by large forms, the image of movement and impulses. Soon Vera became a student in the studio of Bourdelle, a student of the great sculptor Rodin. I must say, he was not particularly enthusiastic about her ...

Two unreliable

A visit to Russia to visit her relatives ended with Vera staying in her homeland forever: the 1914 war began. Mukhina resolutely abandoned the sculpture and enrolled in nursing courses. She spent the next four years in hospitals, helping the sick and wounded. In 1914, she met Dr. Alexei Zamkov. It was a gift of fate, which one could only dream of. A handsome, intelligent, talented doctor from God became the husband of Vera Ignatievna.

Both were of those who will soon be talked about - "walk on the edge." Zamkov participated in the Petrograd rebellion of 1917, and was also very interested in various non-traditional methods of treatment. Mukhina was a merchant, her sister married a foreigner and went to live in Europe. It was hard to imagine a more unreliable, from the point of view of the Soviet government, couple.

However, when Vera Ignatievna was asked why she fell in love with her husband, she answered: she was impressed by his "monumentality". This word will become a key word in her creative biography. The monumentality that she saw in many things and many around her will save the life of her and her husband.

Others - not his wife - noted Zamkov's extraordinary medical talent, his amazing medical intuition, his intelligence. Alexey Andreevich became one of the prototypes of Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, the hero of Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog".

Time passed. In 1920, the only son of Mukhina and Zamkov, Vsevolod, was born ...

Vera Ignatievna left nursing and returned to sculpture. She passionately responded to the call of the Soviet authorities to replace the monuments to the tsars and their henchmen with monuments to the heroes of the new era.

The sculptor has won competitions more than once: her chisel, for example, owns the monumental figures of Sverdlov and Gorky. The list of her most significant works speaks of Mukhina's loyalty to the ideals of communism: “Hymn to the International”, “Flame of Revolution”, “Bread”, “Fertility”, “Peasant Woman”, “Worker and Collective Farm Girl”.

Meanwhile, Stalinism was growing, and the clouds over the family began to thicken.

Envious people, disguised as patriots of the Soviet state, accused Zamkov of "quackery" and charlatanism. The family tried to flee abroad, but in Kharkiv they were taken off the train. They got off extremely lightly: they were exiled to Voronezh for three years. A couple of years later, they were rescued from there by Maxim Gorky ...

In Moscow, Zamkov was allowed to return to work, and Vera Ignatievna became downright a locomotive for the family. The terrible year of 1937 became a triumphant one for her. After him, she became inviolable.

Stalin's favorite sculptor

Mukhina's sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" stood at VDNKh for a long time. Non-capital residents know it more as the emblem of the Mosfilm film studio. Vera Mukhina sculpted it in 1937 as a gigantic monument that was supposed to crown the Soviet pavilion at the world exhibition in Paris.

The installation of the multi-ton statue was, like many things in Stalin's time, in an emergency mode. Cooking steel "Worker and Collective Farm Girl" was difficult. But a special problem arose with the fluttering scarf of the collective farmer. Vera Ignatievna explained: a scarf is an important supporting detail of a sculpture. In addition, it gives it dynamism. Opponents argued: collective farmers do not wear scarves, this is too frivolous and inappropriate detail for such a "cloth". Mukhina did not want to deprive the Soviet peasant woman of such an ornament!

The case ended with the fact that the director of the factory where the statue was cast wrote a denunciation against Mukhina. He accused her that the contour of the scarf repeats the profile of Trotsky. Klyauznik hoped that the NKVD would remember her merchant background, her sister abroad, and her dubious husband.

On one of the working nights, Stalin himself arrived at the plant. He examined the scarf and did not see in it signs of the main enemy of the people. The sculptor was saved...

Parisian newspapers, in general, gave a low rating to the Soviet art presented at the exhibition. The French were impressed only by the work of Mukhina, above which was only the fascist eagle with a swastika that crowned the German pavilion.

The director of the Soviet pavilion was shot upon arrival at home. But Stalin did not touch Mukhina. He considered her art extremely realistic, thoroughly Soviet, and also important for the Soviet people. The poorly educated leader would have known how strongly the cubists and the French sculptor Aristide Maillol influenced Vera Ignatievna's work ...

Today they would say that Stalin was a "fanate" of Mukhina: from 1941 to 1952 she received five (!) Stalin Prizes. The head of state, however, was not a fan of her husband. Zamkov was hounded all the time, his merits were not recognized. He would have been arrested long ago if not for his successful wife. In 1942, Alexei Andreevich, unable to bear such a life, died.

Vera Ignatievna took his death hard. But even after being widowed, she continued to sing of "the most just society in the world" in her creations. Was it in line with her true beliefs? She didn't talk about them. Her speeches are endless talk about citizenship and Soviet patriotism. For the sculptor, the main thing was creativity, and in creativity - monumentalism. The Soviet government gave her complete freedom in this area.