Muralist painter

A well-known monumental artist, the leading monumentalist in Moscow. President of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997, Director of the Moscow Museum contemporary art since 1999. In 1997 he became the author of the artistic solution of the renovated Manezhnaya Square, and in 1995 he became the chief artist for the creation of the Memorial Complex on Poklonnaya Hill. Author of the Victory Monument on Poklonnaya Gora and the monument "300 years of the Russian Fleet" on the Moskva River. In 1980 he was the chief artist of the Moscow Olympics, in 1970-1980 he was the chief artist of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hero of Socialist Labor. He has the honorary titles of People's Artist of the USSR, People's Artist of Russia and People's Artist of Georgia. Member of several academies, professor. Citizen of Russia and Georgia.

Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi. In 1952 he entered the Faculty of Painting at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. In 1958 he graduated from the academy and went to work as an artist at the Institute of History and Ethnography of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Participated in various exhibitions. In 1964 he completed a training course in France, where he communicated with famous artists Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall.

In 1965-1967, Tsereteli was the chief designer during the construction of the resort complex in Pitsunda. At the same time, by 1967, being the head of an artel, he started mass production of smalt for mosaic work. In 1970-1980 he was the chief artist of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1970-1972 he created a number of mosaic and stained glass compositions in Tbilisi. In 1973 he became the author of the monumental ensemble of the children's resort town in Adler. This work brought Tsereteli fame both in the USSR and abroad. In particular, the famous Mexican artist Alfaro Siqueiros spoke positively about her.

In 1979, a 20-meter high monument by Tsereteli, Science, Education - to the World, was erected in the American city of Brockport, New York. The monumental composition "Happiness to the children of the whole world" was installed there and in the same year. According to some reports, Tsereteli was supposed to paint the UN building in New York together with Picasso, but this project was never implemented.

In 1980, Tsereteli was the chief artist of the Moscow Olympic Games. Also in 1980, Tsereteli created a monumental sculpture "Man and the Sun" about 80 meters high in Tbilisi, and in 1982 - a monument "Friendship Forever" in Moscow, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk and the entry of Georgia into Russia. Since 1985 he began to work on the "History of Georgia" ensemble near Tbilisi. Finished work in 2003. In 1989, the Tsereteli monument "To destroy the wall of mistrust" was erected in London, and in 1990 the "Good triumph over evil" monument appeared in New York.

In the early 1990s, Tsereteli came into conflict with the Georgian authorities and was forced to move to Moscow. Here, having received the support of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, he actually became "the number one muralist." In 1995, Tsereteli became the chief artist for the creation of the Memorial Complex on Poklonnaya Hill. He created the Victory Monument in the form of a monument to St. George the Victorious and a 142-meter high stele. In 1995-2000, Tsereteli took part in the work on the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In 1997, he developed a general design solution for the renovated Manezhnaya Square and the interiors of the Okhotny Ryad shopping and recreational complex. Also in 1997 on the Moskva River was erected a monument by Tsereteli "300 years of the Russian fleet", or "Peter the First", 96 meters high. His attitude caused a mixed reaction in society. In addition, in 1997, Tsereteli was elected president of the Russian Academy of Arts. In December 1999, he achieved the opening of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and became its director. In 2001, the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery was opened.

In 2003-2010, Tsereteli installed many monuments in Moscow, other cities of Russia and the world, including monuments to the founder of the Academy of Arts Ivan Shuvalov in St. Petersburg, Princess Olga in Pskov, Honoré de Balzac in the city of Agda in France, the Cossack Kharko in Kharkov in Ukraine, General Charles de Gaulle in Moscow, Alexander Peresvet, hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, in Borisoglebsk, President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov in Grozny, Pope John Paul II in Ploermel in France, former Japanese Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama in Tokyo, Moscow compositions "Wives of the Decembrists. Gates of Fate" and a monument to the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan, as well as a huge copper hare in Baden-Baden. In addition, Tsereteli designed the new stations of the Moscow metro - "Pobedy Park" and "Trubnaya". Also in 2006, he erected a monument dedicated to the fight against international terrorism in the city of Bayon, New Jersey, opposite the site of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York.

Tsereteli's work caused a mixed reaction in society and among critics. He was accused of monopolizing monumental projects in Moscow, violating the stylistic unity of the capital, and creating his works in line. Other critics of Tsereteli's activities spoke positively and argued that he created his own style.

Tsereteli has been a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation since 2005. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, has the honorary titles of People's Artist of the USSR, People's Artist of Russia and People's Artist of Georgia. The sculptor is the president of the Moscow International Foundation for UNESCO, academician of the International Academy of Creativity, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, professor at Brockport University of Fine Arts and corresponding member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

For a lump of money

How Zurab Tsereteli became a wealthy artist

Money - "zurabki", Moscow casinos, carriages with copper and an amusement park, in which only one person thoroughly had fun. The magazine "Money" figured out how the sculptor Zurab Tsereteli manages to give monuments to cities, in which there are only bronzes worth several hundred million rubles.

Residents of St. Petersburg collect signatures under a petition against the installation of a monument to Christ in the city Tsereteli... The statue was cast by a sculptor in 2013, has a height of 33 meters - according to the number of years Christ lived - and at first was intended as a gift to the city of Sochi, but there was no place for it. Now Tsereteli claims that he sculpted the statue specifically in order to donate it to St. Petersburg, and not one, but as part of a composition of 17 works, of which 14 are eight-meter monuments to members of the Romanov royal family.

Not only the secular community, but also representatives of the House of Romanovs and even the Russian Orthodox Church spoke out against Christ, which is even larger than the monument in Rio de Janeiro (it is only 30 meters without a pedestal). The latter reported that there is no practice of worshiping monuments in Christianity.

Dengi magazine, for its part, does not undertake to discuss ethical or artistic aspects, but is impressed by the value of the gift. The sculptors interviewed by us calculated that, according to the most modest calculations, without logistics, installation and pedestals, the cost of 17 sculptures is 320 million rubles... Generous, considering that just a month earlier, another gift from Tsereteli to people was erected - a 92-meter monument to Columbus in Puerto Rico. Also, after all, probably millions 150 spent. However, the biography of the most successful Russian sculptor proves that it is impossible to become impoverished by giving out such gifts.

The prospect of being a poor artist never fascinated Zurab Tsereteli

Like Titian

Many years ago, answering a journalist's question, Zurab Tsereteli said that he never wanted to be a poor artist, but wanted to be, for example, like Titian, whom "the entire Venetian Senate, all Venice, all foreign emperors adored."

As you know, Titian was obscenely rich, threw luxurious balls in his palazzo, and spiteful critics who did not get to these balls wrote about him as "the most greedy of people ever created by nature."

Zurab Tsereteli, whose newspaper The Georgian Times in 2007 included in the top ten richest Georgians in the world assessed $ 2 billion., actually succeeded more than Titian: he practically does not even have ill-wishers. Thanks to his charm and ability to negotiate, he survived as a "court" sculptor several generations of power and did not lose his own.

Zurab Tsereteli received the title of "Georgian millionaire" already in the 70s, and there is a lovely legend that the 50-ruble bill at that time in Georgia was called "Zurabkoy", because the young sculptor did not recognize finer money. The state came to him simply: early heading the monumental section of the Union of Artists of Georgia, Zurab Konstantinovich got access to orders for the design of the main party health resorts. His sculptures, as well as mosaic and decorative panels adorned Gagra, Sukhumi, Borjomi, Adler, Sochi, Miskhor and Pitsunda.

The first scandal in his biography happened in Pitsunda. There were rumors that the OBKHSS of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Georgian SSR had claims to the sculptor: allegedly the estimate of the work was unreasonably overstated. And bamboo curtains brought Tsereteli down: according to the documents, they were designed as unique works of art.

But everything worked out: Tsereteli had high patrons quite early on, among whom were the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR Eduard Shevardnadze, and Michael Posokhin, chief architect of Moscow.

Friendship with the latter, by the way, grew into kinship: Tsereteli's daughter married Posokhin's son, also not the last person in the architectural environment of Moscow. Since 1993, he has been heading Mosproekt-2, which, with the light hand of the architectural critic Grigory Revzin, was nicknamed in the late 90s "Court workshop" Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. In the "Luzhkov era", of course, the transformation of a millionaire into a billionaire began.

The fact that Tsereteli in the early 90s was related to two Moscow casinos became known quite recently

Casino and copper

In mid-July this year, a thief in law was arrested in Moscow Shakro Molodoy (Zakhariya Kalashova), and as a result, many stories surfaced. One of them concerns Tsereteli. As it turned out, already in the mid-90s, he, along with an American of Georgian origin, Alex Crane and a former employee of the USSR Ministry of Defense Karlen Azizbekyan, was a co-owner of two Moscow casinos - "Crystal" and "Golden Palace". It is assumed that in 2000 Shakro's gang took away both casinos from entrepreneurs, and lawyer Vladimir Tsereteli Dukhnov and Alex Crane were killed.

Another "dashing" episode attributed to Tsereteli belongs to the early 90s. We are talking about a sculpture of Columbus - most likely about the same Columbus who has just happily rooted in Puerto Rico... In 1992, he was just beginning his difficult path: Russia wanted to give it to the United States. In this regard, Luzhkov asked Boris Yeltsin to exempt the materials for the composition from customs duties. It was supposed to sculpt Columbus from bronze.

But the customs officials who opened the cars leaving the Uralelektromed plant near Yekaterinburg found there 85 thousand tons of copper, which accounted for 10% of Russia's annual copper exports. A criminal case was opened on the fact of smuggling, but the investigation did not find Tsereteli's selfish interest.

In two years "The case of the Russian statue" was discussed already in Spain: the figure of Goliath by Tsereteli was presented by the Moscow mayor's office to the Spanish city of Marbella. Sometime later, a member of the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers Party Isabel Garcia Marquez stated that it was not really a gift. Mayor of Marbella Jesús Gil was accused of paying for the statue from a budget of about $ 1 million., but not directly. Luzhkov and Tsereteli allegedly received payment in land plots, which the sculptor later exchanged for apartments in the cottage village of Los Granados.

However, a Spanish newspaper El Mundo again argued that the statue was only tip of the iceberg, but in fact it was a screen, under the cover of which copper and bronze were smuggled out of Russia. The Spanish law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case on these charges, it was not the only one against the mayor of Marbella - in total he was charged in 70 criminal cases. A few years later, the "case of the Russian statue" was dropped: the materials on the Gil cases were stolen, and the Spanish employee, who was accused of stealing the materials, died under mysterious circumstances.

To get into the "court sculptors" of Luzhkov was undoubtedly a great creative success for Tsereteli. With Yuri Mikhailovich, the sculptor had not just friendship, but also (as with the Soviet patron Posokhin) practically kinship: Tsereteli is the godfather of his daughter Olga, who was born in 1994. The sculptor personally sculpted Luzhkov twice: once - in the image of a janitor (according to Tsereteli, this is very symbolic, since the work of a janitor is similar to the work of a mayor), the second time - in the image of an athlete playing football and tennis at the same time. Both sculptures are in the Tsereteli Gallery on Prechistenka.

Victory Monument on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow. Installed in 1995. Height 141.8 meters (1 decimeter for each day of the war)

Orders in Moscow - one larger than the other - fell on the sculptor as if from a cornucopia. Tsereteli supervised the creation of the memorial complex on Poklonnaya Gora, participated in the reconstruction of the Moscow Zoo, but most of all, of course, Muscovites will remember three things - the reconstruction of Manezhnaya Square, the erection of a monument to Peter I and the project to recreate the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Unlike its predecessors (Columbus in America and Goliath in Marbella), the monument of Peter I was not presented to Moscow, it was made by order of the Moscow government. It does not matter that the townspeople were pushing away from the gift with all their might. It was paid from the budget 100 billion... non-denominated rubles ( $ 16.5 million.) for the creation and installation of the monument.

Regarding the fees requested by Tsereteli for the work of the craftsmen on the decoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the first cat ran between him and the mayor. Hearing the requested amount for the work (for a start, Tsereteli demanded $ 1.2 billion.), Luzhkov expressed his readiness to quit his job for such money and personally climb the woods with a brush.

Also noteworthy is the story of how the temple, through the efforts of Tsereteli, tried to decorate with synthetic materials. Luzhkov assured that they would not regret money on marble for sculptures, but Tsereteli began to promote the idea of \u200b\u200busing decorative material, which other experts persistently called plastic.

Monument to PeterI on an artificial island on the Moscow River. Installed in 1997 to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the city. Height - 98 meters

In the case of HXC, we managed to fight off plastic: mainly bronze was used in the design, but this idea was implemented on a large scale on the next project - a shopping complex "Okhotny Ryad"... Actually, initially the competition for the reconstruction of Manezhnaya Square was won by the architect Boris Ulkin, which proposed to create on the square a whole city underground with a museum, a theater, a cinema and a children's play center. But then Ulkin somehow disappeared from the project, and Mosproject-2, led by his son-in-law, took over. Tsereteli.

As a result, cultural institutions also disappeared from the project, leaving only one shopping center. In terms of construction cost, it has become one of the most expensive in the world - a square meter cost $ 5 thousand., which cannot be said about its decoration: the historical decor of Okhotny Ryad was made of plastic.

After the ball

Relations between Luzhkov and Tsereteli began to deteriorate even before the resignation of the mayor. In 2007, the Moscow government confiscated 330 hectares of land in Nizhniye Mnevniki from the Children's Miracles Park Foundation, established by Tsereteli. The site was allocated to the fund in 1994 for perpetual use for the construction of the "Russian Disneyland", but for 13 years neither a park nor investors have appeared in the project. But, as the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Mitvol said in 2007, a gas station, a restaurant "Ermak", a bike club were built on the site. Sexton, cement plant and market. At the same time, the fund, by leasing land plots to third-party companies, enjoyed privileges on land tax. Tax authorities demanded a surcharge from him 800 million rubles tax, but the foundation was able to challenge this in court.

Monument "Birth of a New Man" in Seville. Installed in 1995. Height 45 meters

As the newspaper Kommersant wrote, Tsereteli was going to build a shopping center in Nizhni Mnevniki. The sculptor intended to involve the largest Moscow developers - God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev, who own, in particular, the Evropeyskiy shopping center and the Ukraine hotel. Tsereteli was associated with businessmen in the construction of the European: the sculptor was a co-founder of Kievskaya Ploshchad CJSC (12% share), which was the customer and investor in the construction of the shopping complex.

For the development of Mnevnikov in 2005, the City of Miracles LLC was created: according to SPARK, the Children's Wonderland Park Fund acted as its co-owner, and God Nisanov was its general director.

The partners did not have time to implement the plans, and soon the Moscow era of Tsereteli ended altogether: in 2010 Luzhkov was removed with the wording “due to the loss of trust”. Tsereteli, unlike his patron, lost neither trust nor fortune.

He remains the owner of several buildings in Moscow. So, the sculptor occupies several buildings on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya. Back in the 90s, house number 15 was transferred to him for housing and a workshop. Neighboring buildings (numbered 1 and 3), which are listed in the Museum of Modern Art, created "near Tsereteli" back in the time of Luzhkov, are also owned by the sculptor. He also owns three other buildings of the museum - on Petrovka, in Ermolaevsky lane and on Tverskoy boulevard.

Monument "Tear of Sorrow" in the city of Bayonne in the USA. Installed in 2006 to commemorate the victims of September 11th. Height 30 meters

Social movement "Arhnadzor" a few years ago, a mansion was found near Tsereteli in Volkovy Lane - restoration was illegally carried out in a historical building. Nevertheless, according to Arkhnadzor, today it is almost completed.

The sculptor also found buildings in Tovarishche lane and on Bryanskaya street - the city authorities were suing Tsereteli because in the first case he illegally reconstructed, and in the second he illegally built a jewelry store, a pharmacy and a cafe, although the site was provided only for rent.

Moscow authorities sued Zurab Tsereteli

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The biography of Zurab Tsereteli is as monumental as his work. The list of works of this outstanding artist includes hundreds of sculptures, monuments, panels, mosaics, paintings around the world, over 40 personal exhibitions of the monumentalist. The list of honorary titles, awards, prizes and other merits of the master is long. Today Zurab Tsereteli lives in Moscow, heads the Russian Academy of Arts and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, and continues to work fruitfully.

Childhood and youth

The most famous monumental artist of our time was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi. The formation of young Zurab on the path of creativity was determined by the atmosphere in which the boy's childhood passed. Parents did not belong to the art world: mother Tamara Nizharadze devoted her life to home and children, father Konstantin Tsereteli worked as a mining engineer, taught at a technical university.

But his mother's brother Georgy Nizharadze was a painter. Visiting his house, little Zurab not only learned to draw, but also imbued with the aura of talking about art, because the leading people of that time came to visit his uncle. At the age of 8, Zurab entered the Tbilisi state academy Arts, which he graduated "excellent" in 1958.

Creation

It seemed that time itself dictated to the artist the development in the style of the monumental genre. The era of the 60s, industrialization, the development of virgin lands, the solution of global problems, massive construction and resettlement - all this reflected on Tsereteli's desire to bring novelty to what he does. And the first position - an artist-architect - presented such an opportunity.

Among the works carried out at this time are the decoration of the resort complexes of Georgia (Gagra, Sukhumi, Borjomi, Pitsunda). Mosaic painting becomes a feature of the master's work. A striking example of this is the bus stops in Abkhazia, created at the stage of early creativity in the early 60s and representing amazing art objects in the form of fantastic marine life.

Along with artistic and decorative work, Tsereteli participates in exhibitions. The first success was brought by the painting "Guarding the World" at the exhibition of the same name in Moscow. In 1967, a personal exhibition of the master took place in Tbilisi. Then he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR.

Monument to Saint George the Victorious in Tbilisi

At the same time, Tsereteli is actively expanding the geography of its activities. One by one orders are received for the design of various buildings and structures: the House of Cinema in Moscow (1967-1968), the Palace of Trade Unions in Tbilisi, the Seabed Pool in Ulyanovsk (1969), the resort complex in Adler (1973), the hotel Yalta-Intourist "in the Crimea (1978) and much more.

In the period of the 70-80s, the master worked a lot and fruitfully. Since 1970, being the chief artist of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has been decorating embassies Soviet Union abroad, travels a lot, gets acquainted with famous foreign artists. There is also a lot of work at home, especially after being appointed the chief artist of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. All this brings the master the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1980.

Monument "Friendship forever" in Moscow

The artist began work on monumental sculptures back in the late 70s. The sculptural composition "Happiness to the children of the whole world" became a bright completion of the work. In 1983, the Friendship Forever monument was unveiled in Moscow, marking the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of St. George between Russia and Georgia.

In the same year, in honor of this date, the artist built and opened the Arch of Friendship in his native Georgia - a mosaic panel, which to this day pleases tourists at the Cross Pass near the Georgian Military Highway.

Monument to Marina Tsvetaeva in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France

The master dedicated a number of sculptures to prominent figures of history and modernity. Among the brightest creations of this trend: a monument to the poetess in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (France) and Moscow, a monument in Apatity, a monument to John Paul II (France), in Moscow.

In 2017, the Alley of Rulers opened in the Russian capital - a gallery of bronze busts by Zurab Tsereteli depicting leaders of the Russian state from the era of Rurik to the 1917 revolution.

Monument to Peter the Great in Moscow

But the monument involved the name of Tsereteli in a scandal. The public in the capital reacted extremely negatively to both the sculpture and the idea of \u200b\u200bits construction, calling the first, as Izvestia wrote, “disfiguring the city”. The king is depicted at full height, standing on the deck of a giant sailing ship.

The question of demolishing the monument was even raised, but today the passions have subsided, and the monument continues to stand on an artificial island on the Moscow River, remaining one of the largest in the capital (height - 98 m, weight - over 2000 tons).

Monument "Adam's Apple"

Tsereteli is no stranger to being under the gun of criticism: the master's works are sometimes accused of gigantomania and tastelessness, as was the case, for example, with the "Adam's Apple" located in the Art Gallery he opened, or with the "Tree of Fairy Tales" at the Moscow Zoo. The author himself takes this calmly.

Personal life

While still studying at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, Zurab Tsereteli met his future wife Inessa Andronikashvili, who came from a princely family. The couple have been married for over 45 years. In 1998, after the death of Inessa Alexandrovna, the artist organized the first personal exhibition in Moscow, named after his wife.

The daughter of Zurab Konstantinovich and Inessa Alexandrovna, Elena, and her children Vasily, Victoria and Zurab live in Moscow. Today, the Tsereteli family already has four great-grandchildren: Alexander, Nikolai, Philip, Maria-Isabella.

Charity

The life of Zurab Tsereteli is closely connected with charity. Some of the works were created by the master free of charge, as a gift to this or that city, institution, fund.

The artist participates in charity exhibitions and auctions, channeling funds from the sold works to fight childhood diseases.

By the way, in 2007, The Georgian Times included Zurab Tsereteli in the top ten richest persons of Georgian nationality in the world, indicating the artist's fortune at $ 2 billion.

Zurab Tsereteli today

In 2018, Zurab Konstantinovich turned 84. But the rhythm creative life does not subside. The master creates, organizes exhibitions, gives master classes for children, takes part in interviews with pleasure and poses for photos, but most importantly, he is full of new ideas and projects. In 2016, the Tsereteli house-museum was opened in the village of Peredelkino near Moscow.

Zurab Tsereteli at a meeting with fans in 2018

In 2014, the monumental artist became a full Knight of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, having received an award of the IV degree. The main secret of health and longevity, the sculptor calls constant work "without any vacations and breaks for vacations."

Work

• 1997 - Monument to Peter the Great (Moscow, Russia)
• 1995 - Memorial "Tear of Sorrow" (New Jersey, USA)
• 1983 - Monument "Friendship forever" (Moscow, Russia)
• 1990 - Monument "Good conquers evil" (New York, USA)
• 2006 - Monument to Saint George the Victorious (Tbilisi, Georgia)
• 1995 - Victory Monument on Poklonnaya Hill (Moscow, Russia)
• 1995 - Monument "Birth of a New Man" (Seville, Spain)
• 1995 - The Tragedy of Nations Monument (Moscow, Russia)
• 2016 - Monument to Shota Rustaveli (St. Petersburg, Russia)
• 2013 - Sculptural composition dedicated to women (Moscow, Russia)

Zurab Tsereteli is one of the most famous Soviet art workers, and now the president of the Russian Academy of Arts. The talented and creative Zurab Tsereteli was able to prove himself in almost all areas of contemporary art - the author owns paintings, frescoes, mosaics, bas-reliefs, sculptures, monuments and other works.

However, with special inspiration, the meter creates monuments of monumental art, investing in them his talent, emotions and soul. Despite his successful career and the immense popularity of the monumental sculptor, his works still cause an ambiguous reaction not only from ordinary people, but also from art historians, art critics and colleagues in the creative workshop. What is the genius and ambiguity of the person of Zurab Tsereteli, we will understand in this article.

Biography of Zurab Tsereteli

Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli was born on January 4, 1934 in the capital of Georgia. Both the father and mother of the future sculptor belonged to princely families known in Georgia, therefore the Tsereteli family belonged to the Georgian elite. Zurab Tsereteli's father Konstantin Georgievich was a successful civil engineer.

The mother of the future art worker Tamara Semyonovna Nizharadze devoted herself to family and children. Georgy Nizharadze, Tamara Semyonovna's brother and a famous Georgian painter, had a key influence on the choice of the professional and creative path of the future master.

In the house of Georgy Nizharadze, where Zurab spent a lot of time, the Georgian creative elite D. Kakabadze, S. Kobuladze, U. Japaridze, and others gathered. development.

The brilliant sculptor graduated from the Academy of Arts in Tbilisi, but his career path began with work at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of Georgia. In 1964, Zurab Tsereteli underwent advanced training in France, where he got acquainted with the work of the outstanding painters of the era of P. Picasso and M. Chagall.

At the end of the 60s, the sculptor decided to develop in the field of monumental and sculptural art, after which hundreds of widely famous monuments, sculptures, steles, monuments, statues, busts installed all over the world.

For professional and personal merits, the sculptor was awarded a number of awards and titles: Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the Lenin Prize, State Prizes of the USSR, State Prize of Russia, Knight of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Knight of the Legion of Honor.

From 1997 to the present day, Zurab Tsereteli has headed the Russian Academy of Arts. In 2003, Zurab Tsereteli received Russian citizenship for his professional achievements and services to Russia.

The genius sculptor is also successful in family life. Zurab Tsereteli is married to Inessa Alexandrovna Andronikashvili and has a daughter, Elena, who gave him three grandchildren. And in the early 2000s, the Tsereteli couple were replenished with four great-grandchildren.

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The most famous works of Zurab Tsereteli

The author's creative heritage consists of more than 5,000 works, each of which is original, distinctive and inimitable. Dozens of landscapes, portraits, mosaics, panels, bas-reliefs, busts and hundreds of sculptures belong to the hands of the great artist. All works by the Georgian sculptor are dedicated to the most famous persons in world history (Sh. Rustaveli, George the Victorious, M. Tsvetaeva, B. Pasternak, etc.) and the picturesque nature of Russia and Georgia.

Sculptures and monuments to the maestro were installed not only in his native Russia and Georgia, but also in France, Brazil, Spain, Lithuania, Great Britain and other countries. It is sculptural sculptures that have become iconic in the work of Tsereteli and the most famous works. So, the most successful works of Zurab Tsereteli are recognized:

• The twin monument "Friendship of Peoples" is one of the earliest works of the sculptor. The monument was erected in Moscow in 1983 as a symbol of the 200th anniversary of the reunification of Russia and Georgia;
• The Victory Stele was installed in 1995 on Poklonnaya Gora in honor of the victory over Nazi Germany. The height of the monument is 141.8 m and has a symbolic meaning - 1 decimeter corresponds to each day of the war;
• The sculptural composition "The Birth of a New Man" was installed in 1995 in Seville. This sculpture is considered one of the most famous works of Zurab Tsereteli all over the world. A miniature copy of the monument is also installed in France;
• The monument "Monument to Peter I" was installed in 1997 on an artificial island between the drainage canal and the Moskva River. The monument was commissioned by the Government of Russia and dedicated to the memory of the great Tsar Peter I. The height of the monument is about 100 meters;
• The Tears of Sorrow monument was created by the sculptor as a sign of sympathy and memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The monument was erected in the United States, and President Clinton was present at its opening.
• Monument "History of Georgia" - erected near the Tbilisi Sea. The sculpture is not finished yet. Today the monument consists of three rows of columns, on which there are bas-reliefs and three-dimensional images of the most famous and iconic persons of Georgia;
• Sculpture "Good conquers evil" - installed in the United States in front of the main UN building in 1990. The sculptural statue became a symbol of the end of the Cold War;
• Monument "St. George the Victorious" - installed in Tbilisi (Georgia) in 2006, the equestrian statue of St. George the Victorious is located on a 30-meter column on Freedom Square.

In the field of architecture, Zurab Tsereteli also created works of genius. Under his leadership, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was erected. According to the sculptor's idea, the building was decorated with massive medallions made of polymer alloys, the cladding was made of marble, and the roof was covered with titanium nitride.

One of the last creations of the sculptor was the Alley of Rulers, which is located in Moscow, in Petroverigsky lane. On the Alley there are busts of all the rulers of Russia, created by the hands of Zurab Tsereteli.

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Scandalous works of Tsereteli

Present in the work of the sculptor and ambiguous, even scandalous works. A number of the most famous monuments aroused indignation and criticism from both customers and citizens, and the installation of the monuments was shrouded in rumors and protests. So, loud scandals were accompanied by the installation of such monuments:

• Monument to Peter I - even before the installation, some Muscovites were against the installation of a monument in their city. Residents staged pickets and rallies, wrote requests to the President. Protests continued after the installation of the monument. It was also rumored that initially there was a statue of Columbus on the site of Peter, but the monument was never sold to Latin America or Spain. After that, Columbus was replaced with a statue of the first Russian emperor and safely installed in Moscow. The scandalousness of the statue of Tsereteli was also added by the presence in the Rating of the ugliest buildings in 2008. Opponents of the installation of the monument sarcastically nicknamed the monument "Peter in a Skirt".
• Monument "Monument to the Gendarme" (or "Louis") - installed in Moscow, next to the hotel "Cosmos". The monument was created in honor of the leader of the French Resistance, but the French authorities refused the presentation, after which the monument was installed in Russia. Subsequently, both the French and Russian media smashed the appearance of the statue to smithereens. So, the press wrote that the great leader looks more like a martyr or a slave, his face is distorted by all the torments of hell, and the silhouette generally looks comical. It was believed that the statue was similar to Louis de Funes, a famous French actor who played the main role in a series of films about gendarmes. Journalists argued about whether the monument would cause an international scandal or be reduced to a diplomatic incident.
• The sculptural composition "Tear of Sorrow" was presented to the American people as a sign of sympathy for the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The author himself symbolically depicted the twin towers in his creation, but the Americans saw a completely different meaning in the monument. So, in one American publication it was written that the monument is visually similar to the genitals of a woman, and to install it would be an insult to the fair sex. Initially, the installation of the statue was conceived at the site of the tragedy, but after such critical comments, the monument was erected in the state of New Jersey on the Hudson River pier.
• The Tragedy of Nations monument is a symbolic statue dedicated to the victims of Beslan. The sculpture represents the procession of the victims of the genocide who rose from the graves. This sculptural composition caused a mixed reaction among the population and critics. So, art critics positively evaluated the statue, calling it the best work of Zurab Tsereteli. But Muscovites were categorically against its installation, organized pickets and protest actions. The townspeople called the marching "zombies" and "coffins" and demanded at least to move this "horror" away. Subsequently, the sculpture was dismantled and moved deeper into the park on Poklonnaya Gora.

Another scandal around Tsereteli's work occurred in 2009, when it was planned to install a statue of Jesus Christ on Solovki. The management of the reserve on Solovki arguably objected to the installation of the statue. The monument was never installed.

Any work of art inevitably bears the imprint of the time in which it is created.
Lado Gudiashvili wrote: “I am firmly convinced of one thing - art cannot exist outside a specific time. No matter how large the work is, no matter how high its tower is, the foundation and the first floors are strong, it must remain in the time in which it is created. There is no other given, and therefore art is eternal. Its forms, the thoughts that it carries are only an expression of the being of time, its integral features. "
Subsequently, the images of the works of each era will make up the cultural heritage of society, but first they will turn into a symbol of their time, influencing the consciousness of contemporaries, preserving and replenishing them historical memory.

The monumental work of Zurab Tsereteli is no exception. The master creates monuments and monuments, sculptural groups and compositions dedicated to the victims of the tragic events of our time - wars, terrorism, outstanding contemporaries - figures of art, culture and science, historical figures and facts that arouse the greatest interest of our time. After all, historical memory is not a history of mankind that has gone forever into the past, events and people that have not been dissolved in nothingness, but that which is present and acts in our life constantly, at a subconscious level.
From this point of view, his sculptural work can be divided into two parts - portrait sculpture and works born of eternal themes for mankind. This study dedicated to portrait images created by Tsereteli, which can be thematically grouped according to the following positions: history of Russian statehood, images of saints and gallery "My contemporaries". Their common foundation is based on questions of morality and ethics. The portrait images created by the sculptor are united by the increased attention of society to the fates and characters of specific individuals.

1. The history of Russian statehood in portraits

The sculptural series of works by Zurab Tsereteli dedicated to the history of Russia in the person of its rulers in the 9th-20th centuries has a special place. The series is executed in the form of bronze busts and portrait statues. The culminating point of the artist's close attention to the history of Georgia and Russia - his two native sides, as mentioned earlier, almost coincided in time with an incredible surge of interest in Russian history. “Almost”, because Tsereteli, faithful only to his own attitude, did not expect this wave. Since the 1980s, he has gradually created, first, a plastic suite "The Rulers of Russia" in the form of germ busts, and then full-scale portraits and sculptural compositions dedicated to the representatives of the Romanov dynasty, whose 400th anniversary was celebrated in 2013. The sculptor himself speaks of this work as follows: “I had a need to speak out. For almost thirty years I have been doing the sculptural series "Rulers of Russia" and "History of Georgia". And now I am finished. It's not so easy. This is the professional cry that I experienced ... "

Today we see how the spirit of our era was reflected in these plastic chronicles, how they sounded a topic that seriously worried society all these years - the return of the historical memory of the nation, a return to its origins.

The composition consists of two bronze figures: the young emperor and his mother, mounted on round high podiums. Along the cobbled pavement, little Peter runs recklessly with a sword in his hand, half-turning looking back at the Queen Natalia, nee Naryshkina, walking behind him. The son as if insistently calls her after him, urging her to join him. The emperor is depicted as a little boy, but his whole figure expresses an unrestrained desire to move forward. His energetic run is conveyed so vividly that it seems that the hero can stumble from the podium on which his figure is installed. The pressure and energy in Peter's movement is emphasized by the sharp contrast between the dynamics of his figure and the static figure of his mother. Her image is likened to the image of Russia at the end of the 17th century - a huge clumsy empire, which Peter will be destined to lead.

Tsereteli interprets the figure of Natalia Naryshkina as a fabulous boyar, completely closed from prying eyes. He positions the queen's figure strictly frontally and dresses her in a long, 17th-century fashion, “dull” dress, ornamented with a rich pattern, covers her on top with an equally richly decorated sleeveless cape, tied with a buckle on her chest, and wraps her headdress in a shawl. The statue of the queen looks like a silent work of art, indifferent to what is happening around. In such clothes you can hardly move, and it stands like a frozen cocoon of an outlandish butterfly. You just need to wake her up, shake her so that she shows herself in all her glory. In fact, the sculptor created an allegory of patriarchal Russia - beautiful, rich, incomprehensible to neighbors, frozen in a drowsy sleep. It won't take long for Peter to wake her up. Deep comprehension of historical events helped the author to achieve a high artistic generalization of the image. All details of the sculptural composition "Peter's Childhood" are carefully worked out. The expressive appearance of the future emperor, the facial expressions of his face, gestures, costume details, as well as the amazing image of his mother, personifying the homeland of the future reformer, have been modeled.

Speaking of the sculptural series “The Rulers of Russia”, one cannot but mention the monument “Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, Patroness of Pskov” - one of three monuments on the theme of Russian statehood installed in Russia in a real urban environment. The monument was erected in 2003 for the 1100th anniversary of Pskov. The name of the Grand Duchess Olga, who is revered in Pskov as its founder, is associated with the first mention of the city in the chronicle in 903. By virtue of circumstances, having risen at the head of a huge, still emerging state, the princess went down in history as a great creator of state life and culture of Kievan Rus. It was Olga who had the honor to make the choice that determined the subsequent fate of Russia - she was the first of the Rurik dynasty to adopt Christianity. Subsequently, the Grand Duchess was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as Equal to the Apostles.

The monument is characterized by laconicism and restraint. In the plastic solution of the image, the holy sculptor expressed the majestic image of a woman with an unbending will and high self-esteem, indestructible courage and a truly state mind, imprinted in the national memory. The figure is strictly and monumental. Keeping the real features, the image of Olga is emphatically conventional - she is standing, holding a sword in one hand, and leaning on a shield with the other. The figure is installed on a high granite pedestal with a wide multi-stage base, which ensures, on the one hand, the large-scale proportionality of the monument, and on the other hand, creates a visual support for those moral values \u200b\u200bthat the image of the Grand Duchess personifies.

Taking a look at the portrait gallery of the rulers of Russia, created by Zurab Tsereteli, in the semantic aspect, a parallel suggests itself with the monument "Millennium of Russia" by MO Mikeshin in Veliky Novgorod. The Mikeshin Monument was intended to "bring the good news to the descendants of the heroic past of Russia" over the past millennium. In our case, the sculptor limited himself to the images of the country's rulers, demonstrating his desire to acquaint his contemporaries with those whose deeds and destinies in different historical epochs were not always objectively assessed, sometimes hushed up or distorted, but decided the destinies of their homeland.

2. Images of saints - a story about lost moral values

The issue of preserving moral values \u200b\u200bis one of those that worry many today. At one time, Mikhail Anikushin, reflecting on the work of the sculptor, noted: “There are eternal human values, there are noble traditions - we need to remind people of them tirelessly. This is the only way art will educate citizenship and high spirituality "... A similar approach to creativity is characteristic of Zurab Tsereteli. As if echoing the aesthetics of classicism, the master creates works imbued with a high moral ideal that improves a person, educates him for civic virtues, devotion to his homeland. After all, ultimately the main task of an artist is to see what others could not see, and to tell about it in such a way that others would pay attention to it.

From this point of view, two monuments by Zurab Tsereteli, installed in the village of Borisoglebsk, Yaroslavl Region, are interesting. We are talking about the monuments to two monks of the Borisoglebsk Monastery - Saint Alexander Peresvet and Saint Reverend Irinarch the Hermit. The first monument, erected in 2005, was created by the sculptor in honor of the 625th anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo. Alexander Peresvet is a legendary warrior monk who received the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh himself to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo together with the soldiers of Dimitry Donskoy and who fell in single combat with the Tatar hero Chelubey. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized the monk Peresvet. The second monument, erected a year later, in 2006, is dedicated to Irinarkh the Recluse, a monk of the Borisoglebsk Monastery, who blessed citizen K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky to lead the militia to liberate Moscow in 1612. In Borisoglebsk, the name of Saint Irinarch has been venerated for a long time. At the age of 30, he took monastic vows at the Borisoglebsk monastery, and the relics of the saint were subsequently reposed here.

These two monuments can be called paired. How strange it may seem for the creative method of Zurab Tsereteli, in this case the sculptures are united by the similarity of the plastic solution - the figures of saints in monastic attire are given in full height, frontally to the viewer. Alexander Peresvet holds a spear in one hand, and a cross in the other, as if conveying the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh to the living, for whom he himself laid his head on the battlefield. Saint Irinarchus is depicted with his head covered - a distinctive element of the attire of a reclusive monk, his right hand is raised for blessing. Each monument is 3.2 meters high, including the granite pedestal on which it is erected. In the plastic interpretation of the images of the saints, the author's addiction to the play of light and shade, created by deep folds of clothing, was manifested, which revives the poses of the figures, giving them dynamics. But the main thing that unites these monuments is the idea. Both of them are dedicated to the two most important events in Russian history for the preservation of Russian statehood - the battle with the Tatar-Mongol army of Mamai in 1380 on the Kulikovo field and the liberation of Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders by the forces of the people's militia in 1612. "I really want people to love their history" , Says Tsereteli. In any case, thanks to such monuments, we at least remember the history of our country.

The preservation of historical memory is only one side of the tireless activity of the “silent preacher,” as Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) put it. The second, no less important, is a conversation with the viewer about the heights of the human spirit through the images of ascetics, whose distinctive characteristics are high moral qualities, civic valor, true and not leavened patriotism.

In the modern era of the absence of authorities, those who are commonly called the "conscience of the nation", the images of saints have turned out to be almost the only examples to follow that are not subject to devaluation. Therefore, the images of those who have long been called ascetics naturally and logically entered the work of Tsereteli. Two monuments to one of the most revered saints in Russia - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker by the sculptor were installed in the Italian city of Bari, 2003, and in the village of Haapsala, Vyborg District, 2002. The monument to St. Prince Oleg of Ryazan was erected in Ryazan, 2007. Monumental portraits of two patriarchs - His Holiness the Patriarch of All Russia Alexy II and His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II in 2009 decorated the courtyard of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Russian Academy of Arts on Gogolevsky Boulevard.

The monuments of Equal to the Apostles Nina, George the Victorious and Grand Duchess Olga were mentioned above. In the summer of 2013, in the Greek city of Veria, in which the Apostle Paul preached, a monument to the saint was unveiled. The sculpture, representing the figure of the apostle, thinned by labors and fasts, with bare feet, but with the gaze of a convinced righteous man, pressing the Holy Scripture to his chest with both hands, does not leave indifferent. The contrast between the inspired face of a person who is confident in the blessed power of the teachings he preaches, and a frail, barefoot body, dressed in a loose tunic, creates emotional tension that makes the viewer stop. Deliberate simplicity in the interpretation of the image of one of the greatest missionaries of Christianity only brings the viewer closer to him. Attention is drawn to the Eternal Book, clasped to the chest. In the images of the saints, the sculptor sees examples of spiritual greatness and, sensing the demand of the time, tells the viewer about them. At the same time, the author's imagination, knowledge, as far as possible, of the stories of the lives of the saints allowed him to create the illusion of a close acquaintance with the characters depicted.

As MA Chegodaeva writes, “special attention should be paid to the fact that Tsereteli's own religious works neither stylistically nor plastically differ from his“ secular ”works, they form a single artistic whole with them.

One of the most recent works of the sculptor, in which he refers to the image of saints, is the monument to Pope John Paul II, which was opened in Paris in October 2014. Our contemporary, many times glorified for his deeds of kindness and charity, his incredible modesty, peacemaking initiatives, Pope John Paul II was canonized by the Catholic Church. No matter how strange it may seem, the author of the first monument to Pope John Paul II in France was not a Catholic, but an Orthodox one: a monument by Tsereteli was opened in the city of Ploermel in 2006.

“After the opening of the monument in Ploermel,” says the sculptor, “the representatives of the Polish Catholic Church in France asked me to create a monument to John Paul II to be installed in Paris. The statue of John Paul II is installed in the courtyard of Notre Dame Cathedral. The figure rises on a granite base; the total height of the monument is 3.2 meters. In this sacred place for the French, not a single monument has ever been erected. This is a great honor for me. The monument was donated from the Russian people, as indicated by the inscription on the base of the monument. "

The concepts of morality, duty, dignity occupy a special, honorable place in the worldview of Zurab Tsereteli. And this feature is one of those that make it possible to speak not only about the historicism of the artist's thinking, but about the monumental historicism. Considering human life from the perspective of eternity, the master clearly identifies the most important and significant for his prosperous existence on earth - the preservation of spirituality, adherence to centuries-old moral values. Therefore, in an effort to make his own reflections more understandable for the viewer, the sculptor in his work goes from a portrait image to a symbolic one. In this case, a plastic metaphor for the designated theme is the monument "Russian Truth", erected in 2001 in the city of Kogalym, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. The sculptural composition is formed by a pillar of delights. The name is clearly engraved on the spine of each: "The Great Cheti-Menaei", "The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh" and "The Life of Alexander Nevsky", "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", "Chronograph", "The Legend of the Battle of Novgorodians with the Suzdals", Nikonovskaya and the Trinity Chronicle, "The Legend of the Mamayev Massacre", "Zadonshchina", "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" ... At one time, each of these books personified a milestone in Russian history, but today only a narrow circle of specialists are familiar with most of them. And although these works are devoted to historical events, according to Z.K. Tsereteli, they serve not only as a source of information about what happened centuries ago. Over time, they transformed into a handwritten collection of moral postulates that helped the Russian people to maintain their state independence and build a great power.

Having created a metaphorical image of eternal categories, the master calls on his contemporaries to learn from the example of great ancestors, including among them the wise rulers who collected Russia bit by bit - appanage principalities and then stood for life and death for its unity; heroes who laid down their lives on the Kulikovo field against the hordes of Mamai; brave and courageous Novgorodians, who more than once repulsed the attacks of the Suzdal people who sought to subjugate the independent Veliky Novgorod. Among the examples of high morality and spirituality of the country, the artist includes all the saints, whose lives have been transmitted from century to century by the Chetya-Minei, and first of all - the most revered among the people of Sergius of Radonezh and Alexander Nevsky. Let us repeat: the absence of the ideal of a highly moral contemporary who is capable of uniting his fellow citizens is a serious problem for Russia today. The artist feels this most keenly.

In search of metaphorical images of eternal values \u200b\u200band high moral principles, Zurab Tsereteli continues to turn to the past and creates another monumental composition dedicated to loyalty, duty, and love. In other words, the most important value orientations of a person at all times, but representing a serious deficit today. We are talking about the sculptural work “Wives of the Decembrists. Gate of Fate ”(2008, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Russian Academy of Arts). Dozen female figures, some with children, stand in front of a tightly locked massive door with a tiny barred window. The heroine in the center of the composition, who is the closest to the coveted door, is holding an icon of the Mother of God and the Child in her hands. On the faces of graceful young women in beautiful dresses - resignation, betrothed with the determination not to leave beloved husbands at any cost, despite the living conditions of convicts, the harsh climate, etc. This is a monument to women's sacrifice, determination to drastically change their fate for the sake of those you love. Until the "gates of fate" are thrown open, the heroines have the opportunity to change their minds, to return from distant and cold Siberia to their familiar Petersburg, but it seems that there are no faint-hearted among them .

3. Gallery "My Contemporaries" - a plastic symphony about the height and strength of the human spirit

For Zurab Tsereteli, there are landmarks in today's life, presented by him in the form of images that are significant for his time, representatives of art - writers and poets, musicians, dancers and singers, actors and directors, artists ... A sculptural cycle with the traditional name “My Contemporaries ”Was launched in 2000 and continues to grow today, currently numbering almost fifty sculptures in bronze. Some of them are large high reliefs, some are full-scale portrait sculptures, including compositions with the inclusion of monumental details made using the enamel technique. Paolo Trubetskoy, the creator of one of the most powerful in terms of emotional impact in Russian art, the monument to Emperor Alexander III in St. Petersburg, said: "Without portraiture there can be no monument, and without a symbol there can be no work of art." This statement is echoed by the portrait gallery "My Contemporaries" in the interpretation of Zurab Tsereteli.

MABurganova writes in her monograph about the monumental sculpture of Russia in the XX century: “In 1970-1980, both in easel and in monumental sculpture, the portrait of a creative person became one of the leading genres. The life of a writer, poet, artist, musician is interpreted as a phenomenon comparable to history and even as a fact of history itself ”. In 1990-2000, this trend not only continued, but also intensified, which was due to the lifting of the bans on the names of many artists who were not loyal to the Soviet regime, and the attraction of increased public attention to them. Zurab Tsereteli did not stand aside, starting to create the plastic cycle "My Contemporaries". A few words about who is included in the circle of those portrayed. The cycle opens with high-relief portraits of poets and writers of the Silver Age - A. Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam, I. Bunin ...

This fact already suggests that the concept of the sculptor from the very beginning assumed the creation of a portrait gallery of famous artists not only from the images of personal acquaintances and living directly at the same time with the author, but much broader - a gallery of figures symbolizing Russian culture of the XX century. The area that Russia may have contributed greatest contribution into the global storehouse of civilization. With its representatives, who lived and worked during one century of Russian history, the sculptor connects his deep reflections on the fate of modern Russia, on the live roll call of such different times within the same XX century, about moral issues, in particular, about the problem of the individual's debt to his country. M. Anikushin did not hesitate, repeating after V. Mukhina: "In the future, they will judge our era by contemporary works, and we have no right to forget about it." Tsereteli, himself a representative of the era, could not allow the merciless time to erase from the memory of the rapidly changing world the names of outstanding personalities, his contemporaries in the 20th century. The sculptor himself admits: “I try to expand the series“ My Contemporaries ”as much as possible, while retaining the impression of those whom I knew personally. The image of a great man, his inner state for the artist is very important ... "

The synthesizing principle characteristic of the master's work was clearly manifested in the construction of high-relief images. Here the sculptor connects the portrait image of the model with the symbol, uses the attributes associated with her professional activity, actively uses the plastic capabilities of the background of the high relief, up to changing the texture of its surface, which also turns this background into a symbol. The author often combines this technique with elements of letrism (which is also typical of his monuments in the urban environment) and includes fragments of specific literary works, sometimes - the statements of the characters in the background of the high relief. These texts play an important role in the perception of the image, instantly reminding the viewer of the creativity and even the fate of the model. The category of fate in the context of considering the characters chosen by the sculptor is extremely important. This applies both to the representatives of the Silver Age and to the immediate contemporaries of the author - A. Voznesensky, R. Nuriev, M. Plisetskaya, E. Svetlanov ... These people with world fame and glory had a lot to endure for the right to find, defend and preserve their individuality as artist and as a person. In our opinion, first of all, Zurab Tsereteli is talking about this - about loyalty to one's talent despite the circumstances - about the spiritual stamina and moral courage of genius people.

At the same time, each portrait of the cycle is perceived as a generalization of the distinctive features, moral and social content of the time to which the hero belongs. The sculptor awakens the historical memory of the viewer, forcing him to think about the reason for choosing this or that character for his work, although he was simply friends with many of them. After all, the stories of the life and work of the heroes of Tsereteli, and hence their portraits, contain a real lesson for the present. The sculptor addresses such representatives of the 20th century, whose life experience can tell a lot to a person today, answering his innermost questions and spiritual searches. At the same time, the cycle "My Contemporaries" may well be regarded as the author's confession - a frank story about how the master imagines the fate of the artist, what he thinks about his ability to sacrifice himself in the name of talent, about the ability to maintain devotion to his vocation without losing his creative "I". The general feeling of all the works of the cycle can be described in one word - inspiration. It is the inspiration that comes from the pensive-sad S. Yesenin, the wise E. Svetlanov, the indulgent Y. Lyubimov, the artistically calm A. Voznesensky, the ironic O. Tabakov, the agitated A. Blok ... So the cycle "My Contemporaries" is read by the viewer as a plastic poem by Tsereteli about inspiration, while at the same time inspiring pride in belonging to the nation that gave the world a constellation of celebrities who have enriched world culture in a wide variety of areas.

Tsereteli himself belongs to the stellar generation of creative people who entered the Russian art scene in the 1960s, and therefore includes his bas-relief self-portrait in the series "My Contemporaries". Thanks to this, the works included in the series are composed not only of the sculptor's historical knowledge, but also of his involvement in the era, primarily in its culture and art. Expanding the circle of those depicted to include representatives of Russian culture at the beginning of the 20th century, Zurab Tsereteli proclaims the continuity of Russian art throughout the past century up to the present, declaring, among other things, himself the successor of this greatest cultural heritage. The viewer is faced with the image of the era, characterized by authenticity, historical accuracy. I would like to especially note that the sculptor turned to the images of representatives of all types of art - visual, musical, literature, architecture, theater and cinema ... that says a lot about the interests of the author, about the nutritional sources of his work.

It is worth emphasizing that the sculptural poem "My Contemporaries" is a portrait poem, many of the models, according to the author, posed for him, for example, Voznesensky, Bashmet, Dementyev, Spivakov, Aitmatov, Volchek ... From someone, before starting modeling, a sculptor made sketches during performances, as, for example, with Rostropovich, Solzhenitsyn ... and then these sessions were not in the usual sense of the word sessions. So, in addition to the concert performances of M. Rostropovich, Zurab Tsereteli made sketches from the musician during UNESCO meetings, which were attended by both a model and an artist in the rank of Goodwill Ambassadors of this organization. An excellent visual memory also came to the rescue: the sculptor still remembers with gratitude Joseph Charlemagne - one of his teachers at the Academy of Arts in Tbilisi, who taught students to draw from memory. Of course, I also had to use iconographic materials.

When asked whose portraits were the most difficult to create, the artist replies: “It was difficult to create almost all portraits. I wanted to convey the inner state of these people - I don't like redrawing. I create portraits of those whose work is in tune with me and whom I love. For example, my close friends - Voznesensky, Yevtushenko, Aitmatov, Dementyev ... I can express my attitude towards them only through art, so I created their images. "

In each sculptural portrait, the viewer sees, first of all, a portrait resemblance to the person being portrayed. In addition, the author necessarily includes in the image certain details that are characteristic only for a particular model, which make the portrait brighter and deeper. At the same time, the sculptor leaves space for the viewer to participate in the perception of the image. This dialogue is always different - depending on the degree of "savvy" of the viewer, but it is always present. MA Chegodaeva draws attention to the peculiarities of the realism of Zurab Tsereteli's sculptures: “Just like alive, they are devoid of any traces of naturalism - they are not found either in the sculptural image of the Apostle Paul, or in the monuments to the Pope and Patriarch, just as not in the sculptural portraits of artists, writers, politicians. Their “naturalness” is a kind of “super-realism”, what in the 1920s Tairov, Voloshin, Zamyatin called “neo-realism”, “mystical”, “fantastic” realism. The heroes of Zurab Tsereteli, both those who are now living and those who have passed away - some just recently, some centuries ago, are in a certain timeless space; they are immortal, resurrected by the power of art. "

Speaking about the plastic means of creating an image in the portrait cycle, it is interesting to note the following detail. One of the elements of the high relief is sometimes the image of the sculptor's hometown - Tbilisi. So, this technique is used in high reliefs dedicated to the poets of the end of the XX century - B. Akhmadulina and B. Okudzhava. In the first case, for the poet, who has repeatedly glorified the beauty of Tbilisi, the pedestal is formed by a column, almost immersed in the relief, made up of typical Georgian houses piled on top of each other. In the second, a series of houses, like an avalanche, descends along a steep mountain ridge, surrounding the poet, who was born in Tbilisi. This technique used by the sculptor reflects the long-standing close relationship between the literary circles of Georgia and Russia. Remembering Tbilisi in 1920 (then - Tiflis), L. Gudiashvili wrote: “Tbilisi is a city with great poetic traditions. True, poetry cafes have lost much of their former flavor, but still life here was interesting and intense. Disputes, evenings, meetings continued, in which both Georgian and Russian writers took part. After all, many Russian poets received their first baptism in Tbilisi and now, like a magnet, they were drawn here " .

The names of S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky, O. Mandelstam, K. Balmont, B. Pasternak, N. Zabolotsky, N. Tikhonov and other Russian poets were forever connected with Tbilisi, with Georgia, where they found new sources of inspiration, and the next generation of writers kept this tradition. And Zurab Tsereteli, who glorified his beloved city many times in his art, could not help but turn to his image even in the portrait cycle, when it is appropriate. Such plastic variety undoubtedly expands the possibilities of representing the person being portrayed and activates the historical memory of the viewer.

Some of the high reliefs mentioned above served as the basis for the birth of portrait statues of the cycle "My Contemporaries". So, the images of V. Vysotsky, I. Brodsky, R. Nuriev, M. Tsvetaeva were created first in high relief, and then reworked on an enlarged scale, turning in the full sense of the word into monumental sculptures that the viewer can get around and see from all sides ... Some of them were installed in a real environment: the monument to M. Tsvetaeva now adorns the esplanade of the French town of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (2012), the monument to V. Vysotsky was erected in the town of Pokachi, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (2012). Other statues in the cycle were created as independent pieces. These are statues of M. Rostropovich, O. Tabakov, N. Mikhalkov, V. Gergiev, A. Solzhenitsyn.

As already noted, the sculptor makes extensive use of attributes and symbols in the portrait gallery that enhance the psychological characteristics of the person being portrayed and send the viewer either to the model's work or to her fate. According to A. Zolotov, this is due to the peculiarities of the artist's perception of the model: "The poetry of perception of reality, inherent in the works of Zurab Tsereteli and himself as an artist, directs the chosen object of the image to the symbol and can" take "it out of the sphere of artistic admiration into another sphere - the psychologically convincing" recognition "of the human essence of the hero."

They wrote a lot, for example, about the monument to V. Vysotsky: a poet with a guitar, with which he never parted in his life, from behind which images of gold-domed temples and horses from the artist's most popular songs "peep" out. Or about the monument to I. Brodsky, half of whose figure the sculptor presented in the clothes of a prisoner, and the other in the clothes of a Nobel laureate. What is the high relief dedicated to Vladimir Spivakov, who appears with a "butterfly" on a naked torso with muscular arms and an incredibly inspired face, and the work itself is perceived as a hymn to the musician's "hard labor"! The author comments on the portrait of V. Spivakov as follows: “This is a unique musician. He goes in for sports! The people should know about this. Therefore, I made a portrait of him with a naked torso, but with a "butterfly" as a sign of belonging to the artistic world. " Such capacious details-characteristics say incredibly much to everyone who is familiar with the life history of these outstanding personalities.
The monument to A. Solzhenitsyn is special, not like others. There are no attributes associated with his activities as a writer, or human rights activist, or historian. There are no metaphors and allegories in it, pushing the viewer to some parallels and associations with the life and work of this unique person. This monument is itself a symbol - a symbol of eternal pain for the native country. This is how, in our opinion, Zurab Tsereteli understood and by means of plastics conveyed the life of Alexander Isaevich, raising the image of a real person to the meaning of a symbol.

At the end of his Autobiography, presented at the request of the Nobel Committee in 1970, A. Solzhenitsyn wrote: “Even the events that have already happened to us, we almost never can assess and realize immediately, in their wake, the more unpredictable and surprising for us is the course of future events”.These words, first of all, refer to Alexander Solzhenitsyn himself, to what his appearance in Russian philosophy, history, literature, morality means for our country, and simply to his appearance as a courageous and whole person. In a sculptural portrait by Zurab Tsereteli A. Solzhenitsyn is depicted in a burial shroud. His earthly life hung in the balance from death too many times, he repeatedly became a victim of various circumstances, including History itself. A long shirt with a blind collar, falling from the shoulders, creates an image of the greatest humility, concentration and silence with colossal inner tension - the life of the spirit, as if "matter and body did not remind of themselves." Hands play an important role in the portrait. As the sculptor says, “I tried very hard to catch his character - how he spoke with his hands. Each person of art has some special detail ... inherent only to him. "
A. Solzhenitsyn's almost connected, but never closed fingers aggravate the feeling of intense inner work, a deep wrinkle on his forehead is a sign of enduring pain for the homeland.

"This is the figure of the Artist - the artist-preacher, the artist-thinker, the artist of the spiritual warehouse" ... The feeling that this great man continues to root for the fate of the country even beyond the line of life and death ... The statue is filled with the deepest inner content, the emotional approach of the sculptor to the fate of the model is clearly visible in it.
In an effort to create the most detailed portrait of the hero - not only his inner essence, the life of his soul, but also characterizing his creative activity, especially when it comes to brothers in the professional workshop, the sculptor freely experiments in the field of the latest techniques and technologies, saturating the synthesizing method with new elements your creativity. The master's interest in the enamel technique, in which Tsereteli has been working since the late 1970s, is well known, and his searches in the field of which he develops in the following directions: increasing the number of color tones, combining enamel jewelry with a monumental form, the transition from flatness to volumetric-spatial structures and the exit enamel work in the real environment.

It is symbolic that for the first time the sculptor included monumental paintings in the technique of cloisonné enamel in the sculptural compositions dedicated to the avant-garde artists of the 20th century - Kazimir Malevich (2013) and Wassily Kandinsky (2013). In both of them, fragments of the iconic works of these legendary artists are executed using the enamel technique. The presence of enamel monumental parts in the composition of the bronze composition emphasizes the artistic individuality of the author, the breadth of his creative aspirations. In fact, the master combined the portrait image and the decorative principle, which is of great importance in monumental plastic, at the same time turning these works into symbols due to the generalizing power contained in them.

Summing up the consideration of three extensive plastic cycles of Zurab Tsereteli - the history of Russian statehood, the images of saints and the gallery "My Contemporaries", it can be argued that the sculptor's response to the demands of modern society lies at the origins of their creation. They reflect the atmosphere of the current turning point in the country, which is characterized by a huge interest of people in their historical past, increased attention to traditions, interrupted for decades due to known reasons, a moral and ethical crisis, a lack of authority among contemporaries who can unite disunited and disillusioned people. In his Notes on Art, one of the brightest sculptors of his time, Ivan Shadr, wrote that “The most important thing for an artist is to reflect the spiritual essence of the era”.

Years later, in continuation of this thought, the sculptor Mikhail Anikushin emphasized: “Art always requires experience, understanding; superficial topicality does not give a true image of the present day. art - "photographic fixation", it is akin to philosophy, its area is not fugitive crafts, but a realistic picture, an image of Time... Zurab Tsereteli was able to clearly capture the mood of modernity at the turn of two centuries and, in accordance with his worldview, provided answers to questions of concern to society, creating a plastic image of his era.