Store "Artemivsk"

The mosaic panel was created for the Artemivsk store (Universam) in Bakhmut at the beginning of the 1980s. In 2021, the supermarket was renovated and named "Family". The panel was left for decoration of the premises but partially it was covered with panels - exactly in the part where the monument to Artem by the famous Ukrainian sculptor and filmmaker Ivan Kavaleridze was depicted.

The monument, titled "Prometheus", was erected in Bakhmut in 1924 to honor of Fedor Andreyevich Sergeyev (nickname: Artem) - a Soviet Bolshevik leader. Standing nearly 30 meters tall and made of reinforced concrete, the monument’s pedestal could accommodate up to 200 people during Soviet celebrations. The colossal figure of Artem impressed contemporaries with its monumental scale and became a rare example of Constructivism in Ukrainian sculpture. It was destroyed during World War II.

In 2023, the department store was destroyed by the russian army. However, a photo taken in 2024 shows that the mosaic has survived.

Photos: Mykhailo Kulishov, 2015; allretail.ua, 2021; www.news.pricer.lt

Ivan Kavaleridze, Monument to Artem, Bakhmut, 1924 (from: Globus, no. 7, 1925), In: In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s. 2022, London. S. 75;

photo 2024, November - russian sources.

Author:  unknown artist