Artwork description

The bas-relief "Belarusian. Bread-salt ”-one of the best easel works of Andrei Bembel (1905–1986). The female half-figure inscribed in the vertical format of the golden section, holding baked bread with a salt shaker on an embroidered towel and welcoming guests, resembles ancient samples of high classics with its free plastic subtlety and a paradoxical sense of dynamics and simultaneous peace. The woman's head, adorned with braided hair, is given almost in profile, and her shoulders are turned three-quarters: this slightest, only nascent turn of the head to the right, towards the guests invisible to us, creates the effect of internal movement with external static - the same thing that fascinates in the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon. Known in antiquity, the technique of so-called "wet" folds, fitting the shoulders and chest and emphasizing the shape of a flowering body, is used here in the interpretation of the national costume. The complex rhythm of the folds of an elegant «vyshyvanka» shirt is supported by the more brutal breaks of the linen towel and the wavy-rounded edges of the loaf, the smell and warmth of which we can almost feel. Strict at first glance, the bas-relief is full of bright sensuality: the modeling of the face, neck, hands and hair is created by gentle, enthusiastic touches.

The bas-relief was created in 1954, at a time when the sculptor had been working for several years on female images, allegorically symbolizing Belarus. A majestic statue has already been created, crowning the Belarusian pavilion at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy in Moscow (1951-1952), at the same time a high relief “May 9, 1945” was created for the Victory Monument in Minsk (1954), where a similar female character is given in a more openly dynamic version. One of the castings of the bas-relief “Belarusian. Bread and Salt” is stored in the National Art Museum in Minsk, another one hung throughout the life of the sculptor at the entrance to his hospitable house, always open to guests, meeting them with bread and salt, as is customary among the Slavs.