Worker and Kolkhoz Woman
| Russian: Рабо́чий и колхо́зница (Rabochiy i Kolkhoznitsa) | |
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| Artist | Vera Mukhina |
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| Year | 1937 |
| Type | Stainless steel |
| Dimensions | 24.5 m (80 ft) |
| Location | Russian Exhibition Centre, Moscow |
Rabochiy i Kolkhoznitsa (Worker and Kolkhoz Woman) (Russian: Рабо́чий и колхо́зница Rabochiy i Kolkhoznitsa) is a sculpture of two figures with a sickle and a hammer raised over their heads. It is 24.5 meters (78 feet) high, made from stainless steel by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, and subsequently moved to Moscow. The sculpture is an example of the socialist realistic style, as well as Art Deco style. The worker holds aloft a hammer and the kolkhoz woman a sickle to form the hammer and sickle symbol.
The sculpture was originally created to crown the Soviet pavilion of the World's Fair. The organizers had placed the Soviet and German pavilions facing each other across the main pedestrian boulevard at the Trocadéro on the north bank of the Seine.
Mukhina was inspired by her study of the classical Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the Victory of Samothrace and La Marseillaise, François Rude's sculptural group for the Arc de Triomphe, to bring a monumental composition of socialist realist confidence to the heart of Paris. The symbolism of the two figures striding from West to East, as determined by the layout of the pavilion, was also not lost on the spectators.
Mukhina said that her sculpture was intended "to continue the idea inherent in the building, and this sculpture was to be an inseparable part of the whole structure", but after the fair, the Rabochiy i Kolkhoznitsa was relocated to Moscow where it was placed just outside the All-Russia Exhibition Centre.
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