Another 20/01/20 “Girl with a paddle”: what was wrong with this sculpture

“the girl with the paddle” – so first names only of the sculpture of Ivan Shadr and Romuald Iodko, which they performed at different times. However, later this name became a household word and began to be used when referring to all similar statues, one after another began to appear in various parks in the territory of the USSR.

Curator and art historian Ekaterina Degot said: “the expression “girl with a paddle” has become idiom, Soviet kitsch. Hearing him, all who still remember the Soviet Union, begin to laugh.”

the Statue of Ivan Shadr

In 1934, when the capital was held the reconstruction of the Park named after Gorky, architect Vlasov came up with the idea of interesting sculptures, which he wanted to place in the pool next to the fountains. The figure of a naked woman, as expected, had become a symbol of the equality of women and men in the Soviet Union. The management of the Park the idea of the architect has approved and its implementation was entrusted to the sculptor Ivan bullied Shadr.

the Model for the statue, became a student of the physical Institute of Faith Voloshina. As a result, in 1935, on the main alley of the Park named after Gorky in Moscow, in the center of the pool was installed dvenadtsatimilnuju statue depicting a Nude young athlete with a paddle in hand. These dimensions were dictated by the ratio of the basin area, however, the Commission did not like such a large size and excessive sensuality, achieved through dynamics and plastics.

In this regard, the Central element of Gorky Park was soon moved to one of the parks in Lugansk. Ivan bullied Shadr had to make a second version of the sculpture, not as dimensional and not as sensual. It was an eight-meter statue, a model for which this time was an anonymous gymnasium student.

Now the figure became more feminine and Rromantichnoe, her image is no longer perceived as sensual and was received by critics quite favorably, as consistent with the principles of socialist realism far more than the previous version. The statue remained in the capital, but was destroyed by the Germans in 1941.

sculptures of Romuald Iodko and their countless copies

a Colleague Shadr Romuald Iodko in 1935 he created the sculpture, which became the prototype for replication, contrary to popular belief that mostly copied statues Shadr. The sculpture depicts a woman in a swimsuit, leaning on the oar.

we Can say that the version of “Girl with a paddle” by Romuald Iodko, made of plaster of Paris, and served as a prototype for many samples of so-called plaster of socialist realism, which flooded the parks of culture and rest throughout the Soviet Union. This is easily explained by the campaign for the promotion of Soviet sport, in which many sculptors from all over the country trying to prove themselves. In addition, the sculpture Iodko was more “sporty” and was attended by clothing, and sculpting these shapes was much safer than to follow the example Shadr.

Head of the Department of sculpture of the 20th century, the Tretyakov gallery Lyudmila Martz explains: “Each small head in every small town wanted their own “Girl with a paddle.” The perfect female figure, created by Shadr and Iodko, in new incarnations became heavy and masculine. Thus, the symbol of active life position, good health, new beautiful time of communism and after repeated copying the mediocre sculptors has become a symbol of bad taste and mediocrity.

However, in 2011, Gorky Park in Moscow was established the Nude figure “Girl with an oar”, which is a copy of the original statue by Ivan Shadr. Fortunately, preserved its reduced version in plaster, which in the 1950-ies was transferred to the bronze is in the Tretyakov gallery. It serveLa the basis for recreating the original creation Shadr, decorating the Park for the entire six months. Soviet champion in rowing Yulia Anikeeva, the author of the idea of the return of the sculptors, said of the restored “a Girl with a paddle” at the same time a reminder of the Soviet athletic prowess and a reproach to the Communist morals.

Lilit Sargsyan

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© Russian Seven

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