Under the wing of metrostroy
On the eve of the Day of the metrostroy, the exhibition “Under the wing of metrostroy” was opened at the Mosmetrostroy museum on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which presented a collection of paintings by metrostroy artists. The collection was restored by the Honored Artist of Russia Nina Pulyakhina-Manizer.
Moscow Metrostroy, whose history began on October 2, 1931, together with the grandiose construction of underground palaces, inherited the whole world, a special atmosphere of labor brotherhood, traditions of a creative, often heroic life, burning with ideas and blazing with deeds.
The collection “Itinerants of Metrostroy” is a tribute to the memory of our great-grandfathers and grandfathers, to the time when thousands of young Komsomol members rushed to the capital to build tunnels in flooded impassable soils. They acted as both a jackhammer and a creative tool of the brush and verse.
The word “burned hearts” on the pages of the widely circulated “Drummer of Metrostroy” (later – “Metrostroyevets”). With brush and pencil they popularized a new profession in order to attract the best young talent.
The small exhibition space presents works by such artists as Philip Dolgov, Valentina Khalanay (member of the Union of Artists of the USSR), Efim Tessel (Metrostroy veteran, war veteran), Pyotr Chudakov, Ariadna Lozinskaya (Metrogiprotrans designer) and others.
– These are paintings from 1930-1950, which were in storage for many years and deteriorated. When I saw them, I decided that they were worthy of being shown to the general public as part of the history of the Moscow Metrostroy. I am immensely grateful to Nina Leonidovna that she painstakingly took up the task of saving these works, and now you see their rebirth. This room does not contain the entire collection. “We continue to work on it,” said Sergei Zhukov, General Director of Mosinzhproekt, at the opening ceremony.
Nina Manizer thanked Moscow Metrostroy for “the humane attitude of the new generation of metro builders towards their departed colleagues and their work.”
– My husband Hugo was a painter, he taught me about painting restoration, at one time I even worked as a restorer. Now this skill has come in handy, I got to work with great pleasure. The exhibition turned out to be beautifully designed, I am glad that the paintings, which for the most part were not made by a professional hand, but are no less beautiful for that reason, can be seen by everyone. I’m happy that I managed to preserve this piece of art, which will live on,” Nina Leonidovna emphasized.
The exhibition also presents the work of a contemporary author - leading engineer of SMU-8 Metrostroy Tatyana Rodyukova. Her picturesque paintings of underground construction sites are inspiring. Tatyana paints in watercolors, and her work suggests subjects for her paintings, many of which are dedicated to metro construction.
The collection was recreated on the initiative and with the support of Sergei Zhukov (General Director of JSC Mosmetrostroy in 2013-2024)