Girl with an Oar

A kitsch replica of the Girl with an Oar in Gorky Park, Moscow

The Girl with an Oar (Russian: Девушка с веслом) is an archetypal example of Socialist Realism in outdoors arhitecture of the Soviet Union, "an idiom of the Soviet kitsch".[1] Numerous gypsum alabaster versions authored by Ivan Shadr[2] and Romuald Iodko adorned Soviet parks of culture and recreation, and young pioneer camps.

Seen as a symbol of Soviet erotica and totalitarianism today, it was part of the monumental propaganda of sports, a model of a healthy person, ubiquitous in Soviet arts of late 1920s-1930s.[3]

The first Girl with an Oar by Shadr was that of a naked girl. It was heavily criticized for being "too vulgar". It was destroyed and known only from a single photo. The second one was naked as well, "more chaste" but still naked.[4] Initially installed in Gorky Park, Moscow, it was criticized as well and eventually "disappeared", and Shadr made another copy to be installed in Luhansk, Ukrainian SSR [5]

The popular stereotype of the Girl with an Oar is the one in a swimsuit, created by Romuald Iodko.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "The Oar Girl Returns to Moscow, in Her Natural State"
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ http://www.day.kiev.ua/en/article/time-out/girl-paddle-symbol-soviet-totalitarianism-and-erotica "The Girl with a Paddle as a symbol of Soviet totalitarianism and erotica"]
  4. 1 2 "Чем новая «Девушка с веслом», которую поставили в ЦПКиО, отличается от старой"
  5. ↑ "Девушка с веслом" in "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Winged Words and Expressions, by Vadim Serov

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