Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow 2012
Lenin’s Tomb, Moscow 2012
© Leslie Hossack
Saint Basil’s Cathedral and Lenin’s Tomb are located in Moscow’s Red Square.
Red Square was famous for its massive military parades. Joseph Stalin wanted Saint Basil’s torn down so that troops could march out of the square en mass, rather than going around the church. Luckily, the cathedral built by Ivan the Terrible in 1555-1560 survived.
Parades in Red Square were reviewed by Soviet dignitaries from the balcony of Lenin’s Tomb. Lenin died in 1924 and his embalmed body still lies in the mausoleum. In 1953 Stalin was buried there too. Later, he was denounced by Khrushchev and his body was moved to the cemetery behind the tomb near the Kremlin Wall and its Senate Tower.
The Moscow Photographs, a collection of limited edition fine art prints by Leslie Hossack, examine Joseph Stalin’s architectural legacy in Russia’s capital. The structures are linked to Stalin by era, architect and anecdote. Hossack painstakingly deconstructs these historic landmarks, revealing them as they appeared when the architects first put their designs on paper.
The Moscow Photographs include: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow’s 1980 Olympic Stadium; the Small Arena and Swimming Stadium also located at the Luzhniki Olympic Sports Complex; Lenin’s Tomb and Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square; Bolshoi Theatre and Red Army Theatre; Moscow City Hall and Dinamo Metro Station; Gorky Park and Ukraine Pavilion; Lubyanka Building and Moskva Hotel; Russian White House and Kotelnicheskaya Apartment Building, one of Stalin’s high-rises known as the Seven Sisters.
These images are part of Leslie Hossack’s larger body of work that explores Nazi architecture in Berlin, sacred sites in Jerusalem and a Cold War bunker in Ottawa. To view more images, please visit her website. lesliehossack.com
HAUTE VITRINE 