Monument to V.M. Shukshin

The business card of the Leninsky district of Barnaul can rightfully be considered the only monument to V.M. Shukshin in the city. The monument was erected in Barnaul on July 25, 1989 to the 60th anniversary of the birth of the writer, actor, director. The figure of the writer is cast from brass according to the project of sculptors Mikhail Kulgachev and Nikolai Zvonkov. Characteristically, the author of this monument, Nikolai Zvonkov, also lives in the Leninsky district. His first work was forged Shukshin, awarded a diploma of the first degree at the exhibition of amateur artists in the capital. Later came the idea of creating a full-fledged monument to Shukshin.

Artist Vasily Rublev for a month advised Nikolai Zvonkov on the image of the writer’s face. The model of the future sculpture was the photographs of the writer. According to the author, in each he saw something characteristic of Vasily Makarovich, and embodied it in his work. Initially, it was thought that the sculptural Shukshin would be dressed in a suit, however, in the process of work, the sculptor Mikhail Kulgachev advised to still portray the writer in a shirt. Work on the monument took more than 1.5 years. Nikolai Zvonkov worked on it not daily, in his spare time. The author himself collected it: up to half in the workshop, and then in the workshop.

Many years later, the sculpture was installed on a granite pedestal, a square appeared next to it, and in it - red kalina, sung by Shukshin. Every year in the square in front of the monument are held “Shukshi readings”.