Many of Odessa’s sights are famous for coexisting in one place, so, for example, the famous Potockih-Naryshkinyh Palace now houses one of the best art museums in Ukraine. The Odessa Literary Museum was no exception, in the backyard of which a new attraction of the city was formed in 1995 — Sculpture Garden.
The idea of creating a Sculpture Garden in the museum’s Italian courtyard belongs to L.V. Liptug. Before this endeavor, the backyard of the museum was a classic Odessa courtyard — cozy, surrounded by greenery, with a fountain in the center. Today it has been significantly revitalized thanks to a very original exposition.
On April 1, 1995 there appeared a sculptural composition «Monument to the hero of Odessa jokes Rabinovich» (author R. Gabriadze, title — M. Zhvanetsky). «Have you heard the news? Our director is leaving us! How do you know? And he called me and said: «You and I, Rabinovich, probably won’t work together!» — this is just one of many anecdotes about this hero of Odessa humor.
Since then, every year on April 1, a new «resident» has appeared in the Sculpture Garden, each of which makes visitors at least smile.
One of the brightest sculptures of the Garden is «Monument to the upcoming Odessa genius», opened in 1996 (sculptor N. Stepanov). It depicts the famous writers Gogol, Pushkin and Babel as birds in a very unusual way. Their eyes are fixed on the golden egg from which a new literary genius of Odessa is about to hatch.
The composition «Odessa-Mama» is also interesting, depicting a dear woman holding in her arms people who played a huge role in the fate of the city — Devolan, Richelieu, Langeron, Vorontsov and Deribas, and they are represented as children. The whole sculpture is based on three whales — medicine, trade and art. The author of the sculpture is A. Knyazik, Honored Artist of Ukraine.
The Sculpture Garden of the Odessa Literary Museum is an exposition of modern sculpture made in various artistic directions, from traditional to very unconventional. This attraction of Odessa is unique — there is no second one like it anywhere in the world. To date, more than a dozen sculptures can be seen here. In addition to those listed above, the sculptural compositions «Antelope Gnu», «Sashka the Musician», «Denim Duke», «Odessa Misha», «Green Van», «Monument to the Unknown Reader», «Shalands full of mullet», «Bird-Troika» (monument to N. V. Gogol), «The Bird-Troika» (monument to N. V. Gogol), «The Bird-Troika» (monument to N. V. Gogol), «The Bird-Troika» (monument to N. V. Gogol), «The Bird-Troika» (monument to N. V. Gogol).V. Gogol), «Time of Great Expectations» (Monument to K. Paustovsky) and the monument to I. Ilf and E. Petrov. Petrov.
Curiously, the sculpture «Denim Duke» (O. Chernoivanov) is dedicated to the invention of jeans in Odessa. According to the opinion of the city’s residents, as well as according to the little known historical facts, jeans were first invented here, not in America. The author of the sculpture decided to put jeans on Duke Duke de Richelieu himself — the patron saint of early Odessa.
In addition to sculptures of literary heroes and geniuses, in the Sculpture Garden you can also see the famous Polovtsian women — ancient sculptures created by the peoples of the Black Sea region a thousand years ago.
If you are planning a vacation in Odessa, be sure to visit the Sculpture Garden in literary museum, as nothing else the atmosphere here conveys the unique look of this wonderful city, its character and mood.