Composition on the sculpture of Chaikova “Footballers”


Joseph Moiseevich Chaikov is a famous sculptor who tried to solve unusual, uncharacteristic tasks for her in sculpture – to transfer the flight. Over its decision, he worked all his life, creating unusual compositions. One of such compositions is his “Footballers”.

Athletes are captured at the time of the fight for the ball. One of them falls. He keeps only one foot in contact with the ground. His opponent in the jump is trying to take away the ball. In this composition there is no static characteristic of sculpture in general.

And Chaikov managed to stop the moment and masterfully transfer the movement of the players. The hair and clothing of athletes further reinforce this impression of movement. Their poses, the positions of the hands and feet – all this embodies the tense moment of the game. It creates the illusion that the players are about to rip off the ground and continue the game.

One will fall into the field, unable to keep his balance, and his opponent will rush further with the victory of the captured ball. The composition “Footballers” was created in the 20 – 30-ies of the twentieth century. These were the first experiments of Chaikov to capture the moment of a jump, a flight. The whole composition is kept at one point of contact with the support – the foot of the falling athlete. The second football player is imperceptibly fixed at the point where his foot touches the ball and the foot of the first player.

Of course, specialists will see here a lot of inaccuracies, deviations from sculptural persuasiveness. But the simple spectator of this sculpture is only admirable. After all, the master managed to transfer the movement, the flight, the isolation from the ground in bronze, when one athlete was hanging in the fall, and the second was frozen in a jump. This composition made a huge impression on me.


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Composition on the sculpture of Chaikova “Footballers”