Dear ducklings! (sculpture)

The sculptural composition “To the road to the ducklings!” Was installed on the bank of the pond in the square near the Novodevichy monastery in 1991 ^[1] . Fairy tale " Dear ducklings! ” American writer Robert McCloskey , published in 1941 , was such a success that the authorities of Boston decided to install in the central park a monument to the main heroine of the book - Mrs. Mallard's mother duck and her eight ducks. The monument was made according to the sketches of the fan McCloskey Nancy Shen. A copy of this sculpture in 1991 was donated by Barbara Bush to Raisa Gorbacheva , who, being with her husband in Boston on a business trip and finding herself in the Central City Park, became interested in the composition ^[2] .

The next night after the opening of the monument one of the ducks was stolen. In February 2000 ^[3] three more figures disappeared. The author of the sculpture, having learned about it, decided to restore his creation, and on September 18, 2000, the solemn opening of the recreated composition took place. The ceremony was attended by Mikhail Gorbachev and his daughter Irina, the extraordinary US ambassador to Russia, James Collins , the then Minister of Culture, Mikhail Shvydkoi , the Chairman of the Committee on Culture of the Government of Moscow, Igor Borisovich Bugaev and others ^[2] .

Currently, in order to protect against vandalism, the sculpture is fixed with reinforcement , a security guard is located nearby.

The bronze sculptural composition “To the Way of the Ducklings!” Is installed on the paved walkway and consists of nine figures: the Mallard duck Mallard and eight ducklings: Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Quack, Pack and Quac. The monument is a kind of symbol of reconciliation between Russia and the United States of America ^[1] .