Valentin Andreevich Galochkin (russian: Валенти́н Андре́евич Га́лочкин) (November 22, 1928 – November 3, 2006) was a prominent Soviet (Ukrainian, Russian) sculptor.

Biography

Galochkin was born in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

(

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

) on November 22, 1928. His father Andrey Andreevich Galochkin (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, in the soviet passport:

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

) came from the

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

region and was a restaurant chef, later a modeler. Mother Golda Gorkhovna (in the soviet passport: Olga Grigorievna) Liberman (

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

) came from the town of

Chyhyryn Chyhyryn ( uk, Чигирин, ) is a city and historic site located in Cherkasy Raion of Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine. From 1648 to 1669 the city was a Hetman residence. After a forced relocation of the Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan see ...

(

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) and worked as an accountant. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began in 1941 the family was evacuated to the

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

region, then to

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, returning in 1944 to

. From 1944 till 1949 Valentin Galochkin attended an art school in Dnipropetrovsk and learned from Professor Zhiradkov. From 1949 till 1955 he studied sculpture at Kyiv Institute of Fine Arts. His favorite professor was Max Isaevich Gelmann. Galochkin's graduation work "Steel smelter" (1956) was cast in bronze by the institute and sold to the

USSR Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (), formed in 1936, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly (until 1946) known as the State Committee on the Arts (). The Minis ...

to exhibit in

Lvov Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

State Art Museum (

). Galochkin was appointed head artist of Kyiv sculpture works and remained at this post till 1959. At the age of 29, Galochkin was nominated for the Lenin Prize for his work "Hiroshima" (1957), however the prize went to 83-year-old

Sergey Konenkov Sergey Timofeyevich Konenkov (Сергей Тимофеевич Коненков) (also Sergei Konyonkov) (russian: Серге́й Тимофеевич Конёнков; – 9 December 1971) was a Russian and Soviet sculptor. He was often c ...

. In 1968, Valentin Galochkin won a prize in a Festival of young artists in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1960s and 1970s he visited the UK,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He was impressed by the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. As he later recalled, he had so long waited to see this "temple of art" that right at the entrance, after having seen the statue of

Nike of Samothrace The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the beg ...

, he couldn't help crying and for two hours didn't dare to enter the museum. Valentin Galochkin was married three times. The first marriage in (1958) was to Yulia Ukader (Soviet, Ukrainian sculptor). A daughter from the first marriage is Tatiana Galochkina (painter). The second marriage in (1978) was to Alena Bokshitskaya (film expert). A daughter from the second marriage is Anna Bokshitskaya (journalist). The third marriage in (1980) was to Lidia Galochkina, born Abramenko (Russian sculptor, graphic artist). Sons from the third marriage are Igor Galochkin (game developer) and Andre Galkin (programmer). Valentin Galochkin was a sportsman, a

Master of Sports Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, hunter and fisherman. In 1986, after the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

, the sculptor moved with his family from

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1999 he emigrated to

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and in 2002 moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 3 November 2006 on a trip to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, in

. He was buried in

Nakhabino Nakhabino (russian: Нахабино) is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (a urban-type settlement, work settlement) in Krasnogorsky District, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is the large ...

cemetery on November 8, 2006.

Artistic style

His early works, including the graduation work "Steel smelter" (1956) follow the standards of

soviet realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

set up by

Vera Mukhina Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina (russian: Ве́ра Игна́тьевна Му́хина; lv, Vera Muhina; french: Vera Moukhina; – 6 October 1953) was a prominent Soviet sculptor and painter. She was nicknamed "the queen of Soviet sculpture". B ...

Ivan Shadr Ivan Shadr (russian: Иван Шадр), pseudonym of Ivan Dmitriyevich Ivanov (russian: Ива́н Дми́триевич Ивано́в; — 3 April 1941) was a Russian/Soviet sculptor and medalist who took his pseudonym after his hometow ...

, Sergey Merkurov. The first significant work "Hiroshima" (1957) which made Galochkin well known in the

is devoted to the victims of

atomic bombing of Hiroshima The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

. "Hiroshima" expresses the sculptor's protest against

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, a call for humanness. Image:ValentinGalochkin_1956_SteelSmelter.jpg, "Steel-smelter", 1956 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1957_Hiroshima.jpg, "Hiroshima", 1957 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1960_Lenin.jpg, "V. I. Lenin", 1960 From 1957 till 1991 Galochkin produced dozens of state-ordered parade monuments and busts to

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and other soviet leaders. However the sculptor never treated these works as art. Already as a young artist he became disillusioned with the principles of

. He studied European and American art, especially

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

Ossip Zadkine Ossip Zadkine (russian: Осип Цадкин; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Belarusian-born French artist. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born on ...

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

. A series of monuments by Galochkin is devoted to

. His view of war is however very far from the one of the

soviet propaganda Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication to promote class conflict, internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself. The main Soviet censorship body, Glavlit, ...

. Having survived the war as a child, he portrays the suffering of common people instead of youthfully marching soldiers or triumphant military leaders. His work "Leaving for the front" 1957, carved from one piece of wood, shows the last passionate kiss of a soldier leaving his wife. In memorial "Victim" 1964 a shape of a human appears as a breach in solid stone, as if formed by an exploding shell. The disappeared human being has left a trace, a

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

in the air. The memorial to the victims of

Babi Yar Babi Yar (russian: Ба́бий Яр) or Babyn Yar ( uk, Бабин Яр) is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany's forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The fi ...

(working title "Violence") 1964 - a pregnant woman, cut in half is a terrible symbol for the mass executions of Jews. Monument "Widows" 1975 depicts an old and a young woman (mother and wife) eternally holding the soldier's helmet. In the work "Gate of sorrow" 1976 two "women are mourning over a heavy loss, like atlantes". "Memorial to the burnt village" 1979 - a girl standing in the flame. Image:ValentinGalochkin_1957_Parting.jpg, "Leaving for the front", 1957 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1964_Victim.jpg, "Victim", 1964 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1964_Violence.jpg, "Babi Yar", 1964 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Widows.jpg, "Widows", 1975 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1976_SorrowGate.jpg, "Gate of sorrow", 1976 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1979_BurntVillageMonument.jpg, "Memorial to the burnt village", 1976 A common theme of Galochkin's indoor sculpture is the figure of a woman and female

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human � ...

. Unfortunately most of his studies and works depicting the female body in a realistic manner did not survive to the present day. His presentation of the nude body gradually changed from a realistic to more and more a symbolic one. In works "Queen" 1965, "River" 1970, "Cellist" 1975 the figure of a woman is stylized, converted into a play of silhouettes, volumes, and "shapes of air". Valentin Galochkin develops his own concept of sculpture as a multitude of

s, which are built by the air surrounding the sculpture. From different angles of view the same sculpture makes a different silhouette. Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Mermaid.jpg, "Mermaid", 1975 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1965_Slavery.jpg, Study ("Slavery"), 1965 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Spring.jpg, Study ("Spring"), 1975 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1965_Queen.jpg, "Queen", 1965 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1970_River.jpg, "River", 1970 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Cellist.jpg, "Cellist", 1975 A special place in Galochkin's works belongs to the geometrical form of

ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...

in which he sees the basis of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and "the drive to harmony". His "Torsos" of 1969 and 1975 convert female torsos into ellipse-reminding, strained and balanced shapes. Image:ValentinGalochkin_1969_BoundTorso.jpg, "Bounded torso", 1969 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Torso.jpg, "Torso", 1975 Image:ValentinGalochkin_1975_Torsos.jpg, "Torsos", 1975

Citations (from working notes)

''Even beautiful but designed and therefore annoying rhythms and silhouettes are also lies, a make-up, so empty and distant.'' ''Only the passionless can have a quality of the eternal.'' ''If there is an objective concept of "beauty" and if beautiful, in this case, should remain forever beautiful, one should create in accordance with the laws of the universe.'' ''Not precocity makes a work of art timeless and great, but its naked, sincere truth and purity, so simple as the earth itself, faceup opened to people.'' ''What does this beauty of a thing consist of? Perhaps, first of all, of harmony and inner rhythm and cohesion, rationality and hidden appropriateness.'' ''For your inner world to become valuable to others, not to yourself only, it must be humane.'' ''In a piece of art there must be a mystery.''

Bibliography

* Galochkina L. ''Valentin Galochkin.'' 2018, Viaprinto, München.
onlineonline2
* Галочкина Л. Н. ''Валентин Галочкин: жизнь и работа скульптора. Из рабочих записей Валентина Галочкина.'' 2010, Москва, Анкил, 336 с. с илл., . * ''Объединение московских скульпторов 1992-2007''. Каталог произведений московских скульпторов к 15-летию ОМС, изд.МСХ, Москва, 67 стр. с илл., 2007. C. 1

* Андрієвська В. Л., Беличко Ю. В. ''На межі 2-3 тисячоліття. Художники Києва. Iз древа життя Українського, образотворче мистецтво.'' 2009, Києв, Криниця. 523 с. * Galochkina L. ''Valentin Galochkin.'' 2 Volumen. 2007, Hamburg, Fotobuch.de, 653353-H96C13G * Вольценбург О. Э. ''Советский биографический словарь.'' под. ред. Гориной Т. Н. Москва, Искусство, 1972. С. 399

* ''Опыт как реальность.'' Конечна Р. Новости МСХ, 2010 (No.11

* Nikolai Tomsky, Tomsky about "Hiroshima" 1957 in Томский Н. В., Шевцов И. М. ''Прекрасное и народ: сборник статей.'' Москва, Из-во Академии художеств СССР, 1961. С. 144

External links

Official website
(archives) * Galochkin's archive in

Russian State Archive of Literature and Art Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (russian: Государственный архив литературы и искусства (РГАЛИ), or RGALI) is one of the largest state archives in Russia. It preserves documents of national l ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Galochkin, Valentin 1928 births Ukrainian Jews Ukrainian people of Russian descent Soviet sculptors Russian male sculptors 2006 deaths Artists from Dnipro 20th-century Ukrainian people National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture alumni Ukrainian male sculptors