On January 4, sculptor Zurab Tsereteli turns 82 years old. The master meets his birthday at the construction site. On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Puerto Rico, where the final stage of the construction of the tallest monument to man on Earth begins. The world has yet to hear about this monument, and we decided to recall the 10 most famous works of Zurab Konstantinovich.
1. Monument "Friendship of Peoples"
In 1983, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the reunification of Georgia with Russia, a "twin" monument was erected in Moscow - the monument "Friendship of Nations" .. This is one of the most famous early works of Tsereteli.
2. Monument "Good conquers Evil"
The sculpture was installed in front of the UN building in New York in 1990 and symbolizes the end of the Cold War.
3. Victory Monument
This stele was erected as part of the memorial complex on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow, opened in 1995. The height of the obelisk is 141.8 meters - 1 decimeter for each day of the war.
4. Statue of St. George the Victorious on Poklonnaya Hill
At the foot of the Victory Monument, another work by Zurab Tsereteli is installed - the statue of St. George the Victorious, one of the important symbols in the work of the sculptor.
In the city of Seville in 1995, one of the most famous works of Tsereteli in the world was installed - the monument "The Birth of a New Man", reaching a height of 45 meters. A smaller copy of this sculpture is in Paris.
6. Monument to Peter I
It was erected in 1997 by order of the Moscow Government on an artificial island at the fork of the Moscow River and the Vodootvodny Canal. The total height of the monument is 98 meters.
7. "Saint George the Victorious"
This sculpture is installed on a 30-meter column in Freedom Square in Tbilisi - St. George is the patron saint of Georgia. The monument was opened in April 2006.
8. "Tear of Sorrow"
On September 11, 2006, the Tear of Sorrow Monument was unveiled in the United States - a gift to the American people in memory of the victims of September 11. The opening ceremony was attended by US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2010, at the intersection of Solyanka Street and Podkolokolny Lane, a monument was erected in honor of those killed during the seizure of a school in Beslan in 2004
Installed near the Tbilisi Sea. The composition consists of three rows of 35-meter columns, on which Georgian kings and poets are depicted as bas-reliefs. Work on it continues.
A grandiose master that combines the talents of an artist and an organizer. Salvador Dali
Zurab Tsereteli, one of the most successful and influential artists and sculptors in the world, laureate of the Picasso Prize, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Director of the Moscow Museum contemporary art, Director of the Tsereteli Art Gallery.
Tsereteli is a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation since 2005, President of the Moscow International Foundation for UNESCO, full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, professor at Brockport University, member of academies in several countries of the world
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 course in France, where he talked with famous artists Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall.
In 1965-1967, Tsereteli was the chief designer during the construction of a 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 1979, a monument by Tsereteli's work "Science, Education - to the World" about 20 meters high was erected in the American city of Brockport in the state of 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 conquers evil" monument appeared in New York.
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, a monument by Tsereteli "300 years of the Russian fleet" or "Peter the First" was erected on the Moscow River.
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, the 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 composition The 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, Zurab Tsereteli was involved in the design of the new stations of the Moscow metro - Park Pobedy 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.
Is there now a person in Russia and the CIS who would not know the name of Zurab Tsereteli? Of course no!
But this is not surprising, Zurab Tsereteli entered on such a grand scale creative life The USSR, on such a scale went up its career ladder, which is undoubtedly the result of his talent.
"Zurab Tsereteli is a wonderful artist. His works bring people joy, the happiness of knowing the beautiful.
The themes of his works are varied and fascinating: these are national folklore, old legends, there were, Georgian ornament, our land and the underwater kingdom, our modernity.
With the power of creative talent, boundless imagination and imagination, he creates unique works of art. They sparkle like diamonds, shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow, sparkle like the rays of the sun falling on the ground.
Tsereteli puts his strength into objects that are very important to people. Tsereteli is a modern artist who works in close connection with architects, and this is one of the reasons for his creative success, the wide scale and prospects of his work.
Synthesis visual arts and architecture is the future of our art. I really appreciate the artist Tsereteli, I believe in him. I wish him a long life and a lot, a lot of creative joy. "
Konenkov S. T. Russian sculptor
Famous people about Zurab Tsereteli
Pablo Picasso:
“This young artist Zurab has a wonderful beginning. He perfectly feels the color, generalizes the form. I see in him the future great painter.
In his works, there are good traditions received from Pirosmani. And Pirosmani was one of those who helped me when I was a young artist. "Mark Chagall about Z. K. Tsereteli:
"Bravo! Bravo!" "Painting for Zurab Tsereteli is the beginning of all beginnings."
Arshigiy (Augustine François Guyat), Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts (France). I was given a high honor: I was elected an honorary member of the Academy, which I am incredibly proud of. In those days, I made an amazing discovery for myself.
It turns out that Moscow and Paris are like twins. People here and there are very funny, they love to say toasts, they love music. The greatest impression on me was the work of Zurab Tsereteli - many-sided and multifaceted, his works are absolutely universal. The painting is amazingly beautiful and poetic.
Nikolai Andronov, People's Artist of Russia.
He (Z.K. Tsereteli) is an artist who has absorbed all the paradoxes of European culture of the 20th century.
His work is based on Christian motives, which is very easy to trace. And one more thing - in his works, in his perception of the world, the artist remains a child. This "childishness", if I may say so, is directly related to another, very important, in my opinion, aspect of his activities.
Zurab Tsereteli is constantly and a lot involved in charity, mainly aimed at the needs of children - sick, orphans, in general, unfortunate children, whom he tries to help. This, too, is an integral part of the creative personality.
Georgy Danelia, film director.
Trying today to define its place in the painting of Georgia, Russia, and even in world painting is useless. The place, as a rule, is determined later, in time. Objectively, today it is a name that is quite "promoted", as they say now.
A name that is controversial. This is already interesting - it means that there is something very unusual in what he does. Because when an artist follows the beaten path, there is no dispute, either everyone praises, or everyone scolds.
And if they argue, then there is a search. The most important thing in his nature and in his work is that he can simultaneously hold a lot of conductor's sticks in his hand, and conduct many orchestras at once, which are not fake.
Ilya Reznik, poet.
Zurab Tsereteli has colossal energy. For example, I really like Chaplin, a wonderful job. Here in these bright, juicy strokes - his passion, his masculine strength, and it is all transmitted here, to us, especially in his "flower series". These paintings show his self-confidence and love for people.
Alfaro Siqueiros Mexican painter about Z.K. Tsereteli:
I affirm that he entered the vast expanses of art of the future, art that combines sculpture with painting. The work of Zurab Tsereteli has gone beyond the national framework and is acquiring international significance. "
From a letter from Salvador Dali to Kurt Waldheim. 1979 year
"Thank you for the offer to make the painting at the UN together with the Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli. This is a happy acquaintance with the grand master, who combines the talents of the artist and the organizer.
This gives double energy to all works and undertakings of Zurab. I think it will be a professional creative competition. Zurab offered us a draft design "Peace Movement" for consideration.
The modernity of the theme, the innovative execution and the unusual way of the pictorial solution of this project prompts the announcement of a competition of the same name, which would give other artists the opportunity to create their works and express their point of view.
From Senator Edward Kennedy's speech at the opening of the Brockport song "Happiness to the Children of the World":
"What a magnificent and wonderful gift!
Tsereteli displayed the beauty and power of sports. Soviet Union performed a wonderful action by dedicating these works to the children of the whole world ... "
Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli (Georgian ზურაბ წერეთელი). Was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi. Soviet and Russian painter, sculptor, designer, teacher, professor. President of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997. Academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1988; Corresponding Member 1979). Hero of Socialist Labor (1990). People's Artist of the USSR (1980). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1976), two State Prizes of the USSR (1970, 1982) and the State Prize of Russia (1996). Full Commander of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Father - Konstantin Georgievich (1903-2002), known in Georgia as a civil engineer, comes from the ancient Georgian princely family of Tsereteli.
Mother - Tamara Semyonovna Nizharadze (1910-1991), also a representative of the princely family. A noticeable influence on the young Zurab was exerted by his mother's brother, the painter Georgy Nizharadze. In his house, where the boy spent a significant part of his time, Georgian artists constantly visited - David Kakabadze, Sergo Kobuladze, Ucha Japaridze and many others. They became the first teachers of the young man who was fond of the visual arts.
Graduated from the Faculty of Painting of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, worked at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Georgian Academy of Sciences.
In 1964 he studied in France, where he communicated with outstanding artists and.
In the late 1960s, he began to actively work in the field of monumental art. Apart from Russia, his sculptural works are in Brazil, Great Britain, Spain, USA, France, Japan, Georgia and Lithuania.
In 1988 he was elected a full member (academician) of the Academy of Arts of the USSR.
Since 1997 he has been the President of the Russian Academy of Arts.
In 2003, for the special services of Zurab Tsereteli to the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin was granted Russian citizenship.
Author of more than 5,000 works of painting, graphics, sculpture, monumental and decorative art (frescoes, mosaics, panels), etc. As a monumental artist, he designed a number of large institutions, such as the Lenin Memorial in Ulyanovsk, a hotel complex in Izmailovo, a resort town in Adler, the Riviera park in Sochi, the Palace of Trade Unions in Tbilisi, the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, etc .; as a sculptor created many monuments, among them "Friendship Forever" in Moscow, "Good conquers Evil" in front of the UN building in New York, "The Birth of a New Man" in Seville, "Breaking Down the Wall of Mistrust" in London, Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in Ruza and dr.
Famous works of Zurab Tsereteli
Monument to Peter I in Moscow was erected in 1997 by order of the Moscow Government on an artificial island piled up at the fork of the Moscow River and the Vodootvodny Canal. The total height of the monument is 98 meters. According to the gallery owner and member of the Public Chamber M. Guelman, Tsereteli "cheated" during the installation of the monument, forging the documents of the town planning council, limiting the height of the monument to 17 meters. There is a version that this monument is a reworked and modified statue of Columbus, which Tsereteli unsuccessfully offered to buy the USA, Spain and Latin America in 1991-1992, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the American continent by Europeans.
Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built under the leadership of Tsereteli. Instead of the original white stone cladding, the building received a marble one, and the gilded roof was replaced with a titanium nitride-based coating. Large sculptural medallions on the facade of the temple were made of polymer material. An underground car park was placed under the temple.
Among the most famous monumental works of Tsereteli, it is worth highlighting: the monument "Friendship Forever" in honor of the bicentennial (1783-1983) of Georgia's accession to Russia, immediately after installation received an ironic nickname among Muscovites - "Shashlyk" (Tishinskaya Square in Moscow, the author of the architectural part is a well-known poet Andrei Voznesensky); Monument "Good Defeats Evil" in front of the UN building in New York; monument "To destroy the wall of mistrust" (London, UK); 6-meter Monument to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg; bronze sculpture "The Birth of a New Man" (Paris, France); sculptural composition "The Birth of a New Man" (Seville, Spain); The Birth of a New World, Columbus Monument in Puerto Rico (2016); Monument to John Paul II (France).
Author of monumental and decorative works (panels, mosaics, stained glass, decorative and play sculptures) in the resort complex in Pitsunda (1967), in the resort town of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in Adler (Sochi) (1973; Lenin Prize 1976), in the hotel complex "Yalta- Intourist "in Yalta (1978), in the hotel complex" Izmailovo "in Moscow (1980).
Tsereteli participated in the construction of the memorial complex on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow (opened in 1995), as well as in a number of other architectural and monumental projects in Moscow at the end of the 20th century, including the design of Manezhnaya Square. Zurab Tsereteli created a number of monuments to figures of the past and lifetime sculptural portraits of his contemporaries, many of which were donated by Tsereteli to various cities in the Russian Federation and abroad. Not all are really erected.
September 11, 2006 in the USA was opened monument "Tear of sorrow" Zurab Tsereteli's works are a gift to the American people in memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. The monument is a 30-meter bronze slab with a narrow elongated through hole resembling a rift, inside which hangs a giant mirror drop, cast from the debris of the steel beams of the twin towers melted during the terrorist attack. The original author was going to present it to New York. But the city authorities did not want to see him at home. Then Tsereteli attempted to erect a monument on the other side of the Hudson - opposite the site of the tragedy - in Jersey City. But even here, the municipality refused the gift, stating that most residents do not want to see this tear, and in the local press, the future masterpiece was dubbed "vulva". Nevertheless, Tsereteli managed to find Bayonne for his monument - a place at the mouth of the Hudson River, on an abandoned pier of a former military base, where signs still adorn: "Caution, contaminated place!" A 175-ton bronze slab rises on the banks of the Hudson River opposite America's national symbol - the Statue of Liberty and the site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
In 2009, Tsereteli planned to install a 100-meter statue of Jesus Christ on Solovki, which caused reasoned objections from the leadership of the Solovetsky Museum-Reserve.
In 2009, a copper hare more than three meters tall was installed in Baden-Baden - a 30 times enlarged copy of the Faberge silver hare.
In 2012, in the French resort town of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Tsereteli opened a sculptural composition dedicated to. The monument is part of the diptych - the other part of which is the monument. This monument is erected in Muchkap - the regional center of the Tambov region.
In 2013, a monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya by Tsereteli was erected in Ruza.
In 2015, a monument to Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill was opened in Yalta, based on the Yalta conference.
The sculptural composition "Warrior-skier". Installed in the Patriot Park in 2017.
In 2017, in Moscow, in Petroverigsky lane, Tsereteli made the Alley of rulers, consisting of busts of all the rulers of Russia.
In 2017, a Monument to Pushkin was erected in the city of Apatity in the Pushkin Public Garden.
Tsereteli is also director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and director of the Tsereteli Art Gallery.
In mid-February 2010, Zurab Tsereteli was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor. In early June of the same year, the US National Society of Arts awarded him the Gold Medal of Honor. Z. Tsereteli became the first Georgian and russian artistawarded with such an award.
On March 11, 2014, the signature of Zurab Tsereteli appeared under the appeal of cultural figures Russian Federation in support of the policy of the President of the Russian Federation V.V.Putin in Ukraine and Crimea. The next day, however, Tsereteli's aide said in an interview with Georgian television that Tsereteli had not actually signed the letter.
Personal life of Zurab Tsereteli:
Married. Wife - Princess Inessa Alexandrovna Andronikashvili.
Daughter - Elena (Lika) (born 1959), art critic.
Grandchildren: Vasily (born 1978), Zurab (born 1987), Victoria (born 2000). Great-grandchildren: Alexander (born 2003), Nikolai (born 2005), Philip (born 2008), Maria Isabella (born 2009).
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. No other is given, and therefore art is eternal. Its forms, the thoughts that it carries are only an expression of the being of time, its inalienable 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 their 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 dissolved into 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 is 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 destinies 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 national 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 a theme that seriously worried society all these years sounded in them - 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. On the cobblestone pavement, little Peter runs recklessly with a sword in his hand, half-turning looking back at the Queen Natalya, 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 be long before Peter wakes her up. A 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 to 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 an equal to the apostles.
The monument is characterized by laconicism and restraint. In the plastic solution of the image, the saint sculptor expressed the majestic image of a woman with an unbending will and a high sense of dignity, 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 and devotion to his homeland. After all, ultimately the main task of the 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 the 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 himself Saint Sergius Radonezhsky to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo together with the soldiers of Dimitri 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 those who are now 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, Vyborgsky 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 saints, the sculptor sees examples of spiritual greatness and, sensing the demand of the time, narrates about them to the viewer. At the same time, the author's imagination, knowing, as far as possible, 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 a 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 set 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 tried 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). A 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 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 their 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, now 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 - a 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 of the 20th 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 commensurate with history and even as a fact of history itself ”. In 1990-2000, this trend not only continued, but also intensified, which was caused by the lifting of the bans on the names of many art workers who were not loyal to the Soviet regime, and by attracting 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 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 alone 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 wider - a gallery of figures symbolizing Russian culture of the 20th century. The area to which Russia, perhaps, has made the greatest contribution to 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 just 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 remain faithful 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 provoking pride in belonging to a nation that has given the world a constellation of celebrities who have enriched world culture in various fields.
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". Due to this, the works included in the series are composed not only of historical knowledge sculptor, but also from 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, announcing, 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 speeches, as, for example, with Rostropovich, Solzhenitsyn ... and then these sessions were not sessions in the usual sense of the word. 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 individual 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 they are 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 time 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. Thus, this technique is used in high reliefs dedicated to the poets of the late 20th 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 tense. 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. Mandel'shtam, K. Balmont, B. Pasternak, N. Zabolotsky, N. Tikhonov and other Russian poets turned out to be forever connected with Tbilisi, with Georgia, in which they acquired 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 has the opportunity to 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 hero's human essence.
Much has been written, 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 golden-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 says about 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 unimaginably a lot 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. It lacks metaphors and allegories that push 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 in only 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 him creative activity, especially when it comes to fellows in the professional workshop, the sculptor freely experiments in the field of the latest techniques and technologies, saturating the synthesizing method of his creativity with new elements. 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 bronze 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 capable of uniting 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. Fine art is “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 the questions of concern to society, creating a plastic image of his era.
President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli has long been well known as the creator of sparkling mosaics and enamels, emitting light from stained glass windows, grandiose compositions of cast and hammered metal and at the same time an outstanding artist-painter with a memorable and vivid style of easel works.
Zurab Tsereteli. Tsereteli Art Gallery
Years go by, political and economic changes take place, whole historical epochs change - the titanic work of Zurab Tsereteli continues and becomes more and more large and significant. The artist "conquers" city after city, one country after another, his monumental works appear in Tokyo and Brazil, Paris and London, New York and Seville. Him creative work acquires a pronounced global character, and at the same time, he invariably remains faithful to the national aspirations of the art of Georgia and Russia, which raised him.
The Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts "Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery" - the largest modern art center was opened in March 2001. It was created in the course of implementation developed by the President of the Russian Academy of Arts Z.K. Tsereteli programs for the transformation of the Academy. The complex is located in one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow of the era of classicism - the palace of the Dolgorukov princes.
Dolgorukovsky mansion
The permanent exhibition of the Gallery consists of works by Z. K. Tsereteli - painting, graphics, sculpture, enamel. Reliefs from the program cycle of works "My Contemporaries" have great artistic value, monumental enamels on biblical stories... The atrium hall, at the heart of the exposition of which are monumental sculptural compositions and bronze reliefs on the themes of the Old and New Testaments, is of constant interest to the audience. Every month in the impromptu workshop of the Z.K. Tsereteli conducts master classes.
Part of the permanent exhibition is a collection of casts from antique sculptures.
The halls of the Art Gallery host large-scale Russian and international exhibitions dedicated to all types of fine art, architecture and design, the art of photography, music evenings are held, and a constant display of artistic treasures accumulated in the Academy over its entire history.
Hall Adam's apple
In the center of the hall there is a huge structure in the shape of an apple. You go inside, quiet music plays, in the center are Adam and Eve, holding hands, and on the dome, in the twilight, there are scenes of love.
The antique halls of the Tsereteli Gallery
Sculpture of the Patriarchs
Sculpture of Mother Teresa (in real height) ... these wrinkles on the face ... these veins on the arms. Seeing it in front of you, you forget that it is made of bronze. I have never seen such fine, delicate work! So much expression, so much power!
Exhibition view with the statue of Balzac
Sculptural composition "Ipatiev night". It captures the family of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II before his death.
Vysotsky. The impetuousness of character, the impetuosity of the music, the impetuosity of the style in which the sculpture is made.
High relief "Yuri Bashmet"
High relief "Rudolf Nuriev"
Luxurious restaurant in the "Art Gallery" Zurab Tsereteli.
Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery - wedding.
Not everyone likes Tsereteli's work, some find his work crude and pompous. Well! The greatness of the master is not in pleasing everyone, but in leaving no one indifferent.
I deliberately do not tell the biography of Z.K. Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, I do not list his awards and titles, all this is on the Internet and everyone who wants to read it on their own. But I want to say that in addition to the works presented in the Gallery, under his leadership and with his direct participation, a magnificent architectural and sculptural ensemble was created on Poklonnaya Gora.
The sculptural composition "Tragedy of Nations"
Monument to prisoners of Nazi concentration camps
and also restored the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Today it is too early to put an end to Tsereteli's work. It continues with the same activity and promising dynamism. The artist's creative potential not only does not dry out, but, on the contrary, is gaining more and more strength. Avoiding any bureaucratic administration, the artist, like the apple of his eye, preserves his creative independence, stubbornly defending the freedom of the path he has chosen. Wherever he works, he remains himself, offering "the city and the world" what he is capable of and how he lives. Zurab Tsereteli goes this way without stopping - with his inherent energy and determination.
A huge bow and boundless respect to Zurab Konstantinovich for the most interesting diverse works, indestructible optimism and staunchness of character.
I wish everyone - both Muscovites and those who will go to Moscow - to get to know more closely the art of this amazing artist and sculptor.
Official website of ZURAB TSERETELI: TSERETELI
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