Leningrad Metro Workers — Nadezhda Alexeeva and Faina Tyagusheva

Semyon Rotnitsky’s painting depicts workers of the Leningrad metro dressed in workers’ uniforms of the 1970s.During different periods, metro workers in Moscow and St. Petersburg wore different types of headgear — garrison caps, peaked caps, berets and pillbox hats. From 2015, metro workers once again started to wear red pillbox hats, which became fashionable thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy.

In this painting, the artist aims to reflect the spirit of the epoch, when the metro was considered to be a new generation of transport as well as an advanced achievement in technological progress. These women partly symbolize a new view on life and gender equality. They worked on equal terms with men under tough conditions while at the same time retaining their femininity — partly thanks to their elegant uniform.

Paintings featured in this exhibition:

"Russia on the Road.1920-1990" - Palazzo delle Esposizioni - Rome, Italy (29.09.2015 - 28.12.2015);
"Россия в пути. Самолётом, поездом, автомобилем" - The Institute of Russian Realist Art - Moscow, Russia (21.01.2016 - 23.05.2016).