The painting “Novorossiysk. Cement plants” is displayed in the interior “Living room of the writer F.V. Gladkov”. The painting was created in 1958 and commissioned by the Novorossiysk City Executive Committee as a gift to the famous Soviet writer Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov for his 75th anniversary.
The artist who was to create such a meaningful gift was an obvious choice. In 1954, Graer Gavrilovich Arakelyan became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. In those years, the artist devoted all his time to work. He turned to such genres as portrait and still life, but landscape was his main and favorite subject. The painting depicts a landscape of the eastern shore of the Tsemess Bay, a small piece of which is visible on the left in the middle part of the picture. The buildings and pipes of cement plants are depicted against a background of mountain slopes, as if from afar. Such a technique makes it possible to literally imagine all the power and immensity of cement plants and the vast territory they occupy. The artist makes a hint, connecting the writer’s life and work and the cement plants of Novorossiysk. Cement plants played an important role in the life of Fyodor Vasilyevich. His novel “Cement” was a classic work of Socialist Realism and one of the first examples of the Soviet “industrial novel”. It entered the history of Soviet literature, was translated into many languages, repeatedly filmed and put the author in the first row of officially recognized Soviet writers.
After his Siberian exile, Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov lived and worked in Novorossiysk from January 1910 to 1914 and from 1918 to 1921. He taught at the school at the cement plant, spoke at meetings, and helped cement workers in the work of restoring the enterprise. Close contacts helped him to gain a deep understanding of the life of cement plants workers — the characters of his future novel “Cement”. In 1920, together with director Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold, Gladkov became a member of the collegium in the district department of public education. In the autumn of 1921, Gladkov left for Moscow.
Gladkov always remembered that the beginning of his writing career was connected with Novorossiysk and cement factories, and on his 75th birthday gratefully accepted a gift from the city where he had spent his youth.
The artist who was to create such a meaningful gift was an obvious choice. In 1954, Graer Gavrilovich Arakelyan became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. In those years, the artist devoted all his time to work. He turned to such genres as portrait and still life, but landscape was his main and favorite subject. The painting depicts a landscape of the eastern shore of the Tsemess Bay, a small piece of which is visible on the left in the middle part of the picture. The buildings and pipes of cement plants are depicted against a background of mountain slopes, as if from afar. Such a technique makes it possible to literally imagine all the power and immensity of cement plants and the vast territory they occupy. The artist makes a hint, connecting the writer’s life and work and the cement plants of Novorossiysk. Cement plants played an important role in the life of Fyodor Vasilyevich. His novel “Cement” was a classic work of Socialist Realism and one of the first examples of the Soviet “industrial novel”. It entered the history of Soviet literature, was translated into many languages, repeatedly filmed and put the author in the first row of officially recognized Soviet writers.
After his Siberian exile, Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov lived and worked in Novorossiysk from January 1910 to 1914 and from 1918 to 1921. He taught at the school at the cement plant, spoke at meetings, and helped cement workers in the work of restoring the enterprise. Close contacts helped him to gain a deep understanding of the life of cement plants workers — the characters of his future novel “Cement”. In 1920, together with director Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold, Gladkov became a member of the collegium in the district department of public education. In the autumn of 1921, Gladkov left for Moscow.
Gladkov always remembered that the beginning of his writing career was connected with Novorossiysk and cement factories, and on his 75th birthday gratefully accepted a gift from the city where he had spent his youth.
