Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Aleksei Rezaev
Soviet Gullivers
Date Made: 1992
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 60 cm x 90 cm; 23 5/8 in x 35 7/16 in
Vera Mukhina’s sculpture, “Worker and Kolkhoz Woman” is defaced and tied down by two little figures. Instead of holding the hammer and sickle, the worker and the kolkhoz woman are brought to their knees and tied together holding the new Russian Federation flag. Behind them in the background are Soviet statues and busts that are falling to the ground. Below the monument, there are two figures, who are taking the hammer and sickle away from the toppled sculpture. These gigantic figures of Mukhina‘s sculpture once represented the Soviet Union, but just like Gulliver from Jonathan Swift’s novel, they are helplessly bound together by little men. These little men, identified as Alexander Rutskoy and Ruslan Khasbulatov along with Yeltsin played a significant role in defying the August coup attempt in 1991 by the GKChP, eight hard-line members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who tried to remove Gorbachev from power. Although in the coming years the two politicians and Yeltsin eventually disagreed with each other, at the time of the coup they represented a class of lesser-known, but new political figures who helped to overthrow the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Hence, the Soviet Union, symbolized by the monument of the worker and the kolkhoz woman, is now imprisoned by the newly created Russian Federation and vandalized by the many new politicians who are trying to run the country. As seen in the painting, the monumental figures are on their knees in a defeated position, the woman’s dress is falling off and in lieu of the hammer and sickle they are forced to hold the flag of the Russian Federation.
Accession Number: 2009.053.168
Item Name: Painting
Credit Line: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Collection/Series: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris