Marx is depicted as a speaker standing on the podium, as if addressing the working people with a speech.

The monument is decorated bearing the motto of the USSR "Proletarians of All Countries, Unite!"

"[1][2] At the beginning of 1957, a new open all-Union competition was held for the best project for a monument to Marx; its winner was a creative team led by sculptor Lev Kerbel, and architects Ruben Begunts, Nikolai Kovalchuk, Vadim Makarevich and Vladimir Morgulis.

[5] In the opening credits of 1988 action film Red Heat, the monument is shown in wintertime, snow covering the front of the foundations.

[6][7][8] Soviet actress Faina Ranevskaya notably described the monument as "a refrigerator with a beard".