Oleg Yanovsky: the pioneers were like cosmonauts

Oleg Yanovsky, famous Moscow sculptor, professor at the Moscow State Academy of Arts and Sciences. S.G. Stroganov, who trained a whole galaxy of professional artists, can be called a “metro builder by birth.” His parents met during the construction of the first stage of the capital’s metro. For the anniversary of Mosmetrostroy, Oleg Davidovich donated his work to the exhibition space on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. This is a wooden sculpture “Metrobuilders”. The artist spoke about his parents and his own development in creativity.

Oleg Davidovich, did your mother and father begin their careers at Metrostroy?

Yes, they worked in the tunnel. It’s surprising that my mother also worked in the mine. Her name was Safura Arifulovna Ibragimova. She followed the tunnellers and put up supports made of logs to secure the completed tunnel. I still can’t understand how she, such a fragile girl, was allowed into the mine. Mom worked in Polezhaev’s brigade and was friends with Tatyana Fedorova. It was a world of healthy, cheerful, very young men and women. In Moscow they were treated like cosmonauts later. Their work was hard, they were building tunnels in powerful quicksand, they were tired, but they also had fun, played sports, and sang songs. I admire how much power they had. These are people who believed that they were building a wonderful future. They were capable of turning the world upside down.

Once, having heard about my mother, the proletarian poet Demyan Bedny came down to their mine. He took an oak hammer from his mother to try to drive in one of the supports. This huge man, the athlete, swung the instrument several times and dropped it from his hands. And my mother worked a whole shift every working day.

She was born in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a Tatar from the village of Chembuley. Cheerful, active, athletic, beautiful, sang Tatar songs. Father, David Vladimirovich, was born in the Ukrainian Znamenka. Both responded to the Komsomol call when construction of the first stage of the metro began.

Mom chose the most beautiful among the tunnelers. During the Great Patriotic War, my father served as a paratrooper, and after the war he became a student in the painting department of the Textile Institute. He was a member of the Union of Artists in the poster section. Once we even participated in the same exhibition with him. My mother worked at Metrostroy before I was born. I entered the workers' school, and if earlier I had laid the path for carriages, now I worked with something that could stand on the rails - I worked at a carriage-building plant.

In my opinion, I was given overflowing energy from my parents. I was looking for challenge and risk. In search of the heroes of his sculptures, he went to the most remote corners of the country - not as a tourist or excursionist, but as part of geological expeditions, with geophysicists. I have 12 such expeditions to the taiga and mountains under my belt. In Moscow, he played hockey and motocross. He loved, and even became an instructor, spearfishing. The passion for creativity was passed on from my father. Excess energy found an outlet in sculpture.

Oleg Yanovsky's parents are Safura Arifulovna and David Vladimirovich

It is quite clear why the sculpture “Metro Builders” appeared...

I decided to dedicate this work to my mother; all my life I was amazed that she worked in the tunnel. The material for the sculpture was mahogany. I found a very large beam - brought from Africa - measuring 1.8 meters by meter. The sculpture was then exhibited at several exhibitions in Moscow, in the central exhibition halls. In recent years it has been stored in my workshop. Now I pass it on to Mosmetrostroy, as a memory of my mother and all the pioneers of the metro.

Did you really turn to the metro construction theme only once?

No. My work is also a memorial plaque to Vasily Dementievich Polezhaev, installed on the wall of the entrance lobby of the metro station named after him - “Polezhaevskaya”. Tatyana Viktorovna Fedorova suggested that I do this work; Metrostroy veterans approved my candidacy. I will never forget this meeting. In a house on Miusskaya, in a dimly lit room, five old men were waiting for me at a round table under a lampshade. Their hands, which they folded in front of them, hands twisted by gout, said a lot about their past labors in the mines. They looked up at me and asked: “Are you the son of Safura? We will now rent out Polezhaevskaya. Our order for you is to make a memorial plaque to Polezhaev.” The order was completed.

Also in the museums are portraits of the pioneers Sergei Ionov in bronze and Aron Bobrov in granite. By the way, this is what speaks about the extraordinary uplift of spirit experienced by the pioneers of the metro, which was very dear to them: everyone whom I have already named, as well as, for example, Ivan Vishnyakov and Alexey Ryazanov, who went through the war as pilots and became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and Ryazanov was twice a Hero, were close friends until the end of their days.

We also talked with Tatyana Viktorovna about a sculptural composition for one of the metro buildings. According to the idea, they were going to cut two groups walking towards each other right in the concrete wall of the staircase hall a moment before the fight. The sketches are still stored somewhere, but things have not gone further than them.

But the works of my teacher at the Surikov Institute, Matvey Genrikhovich Manizer - bronze sculptures - became a legendary decoration of the capital's metro station "Revolution Square".

Which of your works are you especially proud of?

I don't have any of those, I'm a Samoyed. This is my problem. I have done not a dozen works, I consider 8-9 of them good, since they have stood the test of time. When the sculpture is finished, I think it could have been done better. You know, we sculptors have our own “higher mathematics”. Here is one of my last works - a monument to Vladimir Vysotsky in Dubna, where he loved to visit physicists, and his first public concert as a bard took place in the local Palace of Culture. The monument is regarded as very successful, but I would still like to work on it, on the nuances.

Your “Metrobuilders” are made in wood, is this a material convenient for a sculptor?

I have several works in marble, but this material is very cold, it does not have the expression that is present in bronze and wood. Limestone is warm and pleasant to work with. Marble deteriorates over the years, but limestone lasts for centuries. A tree that has given up moisture grows stronger over the years.

Sculpture “Metro Builders” in the Museum of Management on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

HELP

Oleg Davidovich Yanovsky is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists, professor at the Moscow State Art and Industrial University named after S. G. Stroganov. In 1956 he graduated from the Moscow Secondary Art School (MSHS) with a gold medal, in 1962 – from the State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov with honors.

Oleg Davidovich – artist of the realistic school; First of all, he is a bright and talented portrait painter. His works are in the collections of state museums in Russia, including the Tretyakov Gallery, as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad.