The 8^th of march is a day filled with warmth, love and respect. Today, this comely holiday is a priori perceived as a bright spring day when men congratulate women, confess their feelings and make them happy with pleasant trifles. It is a kind spring holiday, which is associated with flowers, warm female smiles and gifts, and in our country it is also an official day off.

However, the starting point for the establishment of International Women's Day is considered to be the Women's March, which took place on March 8, 1908 in New York City. On that day, women marched down Broadway and other streets of the city, advocating for equal rights with men and better working conditions. They demanded shorter working hours, higher wages, and the right to vote. After this march and similar demonstrations that followed in different countries, the 8^th of March came to symbolize women's struggle for their rights. It was a period when a woman had neither the right to vote nor the right to inheritance, and in Russia, until 1914, she did not even have a passport and was listed in her father's or husband's passport. So, naturally, all these socio-economic and political issues needed to be resolved.

Gradually, the holiday lost its social colouring, and its main mission became to show attention to the fair sex – both in friendly companies and in the family. International Women's Day celebrates the achievements of women, regardless of nationality, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences.

In 1975, the UN General Assembly proclaimed March 8 as a day to celebrate women's achievements in all areas of life and to protest against the vestiges of inequality. Each year, the organization announces a theme for International Women's Day. For example, in 2023 the theme was "Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality". In 2024, the theme "Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress" was announced. In those countries where women have become confident in their rights and all avenues are open to them, the emphasis of the holiday has shifted to the format we see now, i.e. the holiday has become gendered – female. From a day of struggle for the values of feminism, March 8 has turned into a day of spring and womanhood.

We congratulate everyone on International Women's Day! On this spring holiday of femininity, beauty and love we would like to wish everyone goodness, peace, tenderness and a lot of warmth. Let every spring day together with the first ray of sunshine bring joy and tranquillity.

For the beautiful spring holiday we have prepared a thematic album "Female images in the works of Russian sculptors of the late 19^th – early 20^th centuries.

The collection of sculpture presented in museum is the result of long work on search, attribution and description of works by Russian and European sculptors who worked in the second half of the 19^th – first quarter of the 20^th centuries. The section "Sculpture", which features a large-scale collection – the works by famous artisans of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, is permanently replenished. The emphasis of the collection is made on small stationary and cabinet sculpture, and its core is presented by monographic works by prominent authors. This is a whole constellation of names – Eugene Lanceray, Nikolay Lieberich, Vasiliy Grachev, Leonid Posen, Alexander Opekushin, Mark Antokolsky, Paolo Troubetzkoy, Naoum Aronson, Pyotr Clodt, Pavel Kamenskiy, Stepan Erzia, Mane Katz, Boris Edwards, Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky, Petr Samonov, Artemy Aubert, Matthew Chizhov, Demetre Chiparus, Preiss Ferdinand, Armand Godard and others. The museum Collection exposition enables one to see the peculiarities of the masters' work, reveal their originality and individuality. Interesting facts about the life and work of sculptors – in the section "AUTHORS".

On the cover: Felisa de Alvear*.Troubetzkoy Paulo. Foundry K. Valsuani Statuette Model: 1924 Cast: the 1930s.

* Felisa de Alvear – daughter of Frederico de Alvear, a representative of the Argentine colony in Paris. She was fond of sports and horse racing. Troubetzkoy exhibited this sculpture with the title “Argentine Girl”

Ref.:
https://www.pravmir.ru/mezhdunarodnyiy-zhenskiy-den/
https://iz.ru/1478460/2023-03-06/8-marta-mezhdunarodnyi-zhenskii-den-istoriia-i-znachenie-prazdnika
https://www.maxidom.ru/blog/poleznye-sovety/kak-prazdnuyut-8-marta-v-raznykh-stranakh/
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