Artist Oleg Tselkov: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Soviet government treated formalism and non-conformism negatively. Despite the success of many Russian artists of that time in their work, a huge part of them had big problems with the party leadership. The usual exhibitions had the character of gray, but well-executed works. However, the masters, who had completely different views aimed at individualism, tried to convey to others that the task of the artist is to create. What is important in this creation is not the depicted incident, but the emotional illumination. Oleg Tselkov was one of these masters.

The life of an artist

The biography of the artist Oleg Tselkov is characteristic of Soviet-era nonconformists. He was born in Moscow in 1934, on July 15. From 1949 to 1953 he studied at the art school of his native city, graduated with honors. In 1954, the young artist entered the theater institute in the city of Minsk, but was expelled due to "formalism". In 1955 he began his studies atLeningrad Institute of Arts named after Repin, but Oleg Tselkov could not finish it for the same reason. In 1958, not without help, the artist was still able to get a higher education at the Leningrad Theater Institute and became an artist-technologist of the stage. Despite all the difficulties of self-expression, Oleg Tselkov was able to determine a clear direction in art, which he still adheres to. He even tried to open a couple of exhibitions with his work, but both were not very successful. The last of them was interrupted 15 minutes after it began by KGB officers, who plunged the room into darkness with a lack of electricity and dispersed the spectators. In 1977, Oleg emigrated and found his refuge in the city of love - Paris, where he still lives.

Artist and politics

Oleg Tselkov was one of the masters who vehemently carried the goal of individualism in their works. And he always believed that the Soviet authorities were not familiar with his work. Now, looking back, the artist confidently declares that if he had stayed where he was born, the consequences would have been terrible.

Even when the nonconformist was a young student, the policemen often showed discontent from persons above. The student's father, when asked why his son did not work, answered briefly and clearly. His words sounded like a statement that Oleg works from morning to night. Yes, he does not support himself yet, but he has a family. And despite all these problems, Oleg Tselkov just as confidently says that being yourself and doing things according to your own taste -everyone's duty. And it was communism, according to Oleg, that was the enemy of creative diversity, which did not allow people to reveal their capabilities. Now, in a time of free opinion and vast opportunities, the artist tries not to spend hours talking about politics. After all, this time is better spent with benefit.

Artist and theater

The master of his craft failed to get an art education. While still taking his first creative steps, he felt that he would be driven away everywhere. It would seem that the artist is a bully who gets in the way under the feet of the government. But he himself calls himself just a strange person who wanted one thing, but got something completely different. And by “other” I mean a theatrical education, which even allowed Oleg to earn money. He was able to arrange a dozen scenes for performances in the city of Kimry in the Tver region. This business was difficult for the artist on the one hand, and easy and pleasant on the other. Oleg liked the theater because he didn’t have to invent anything there, but there were also situations when it was necessary to travel with actors around the city, in the cold and follow performances in the most unexpected places. Oleg Tselkov was never deeply interested in theater. He himself claims that he never even read plays. His job is precisely to create his paintings.

Tselkov's painting

Despite the rather difficult past, at the present time, the paintings of Oleg Nikolaevich Tselkov live a wonderful life. The reaction of the audience, who looked at the canvases for the first time, will always be very different. However, the feeling will remain the same. The characters of the paintings are shown as immense and swollen bodies with strange distorted heads. There are no sharp corners, but instead of them, unusual disproportionate figures are depicted, whose heads are directed at the viewer from somewhere in the depths. This is how Oleg Tselkov portrays his heroes. Mask paintings - that's what the audience called the faces on the canvas.

You can't see anything warm among emotions. The transfer of feelings on the faces of the inhabitants of the paintings is constantly difficult and even unpleasant. The color scheme is distinguished by deep, bright, sometimes contrasting colors. The first mask painting created from this series was drawn by accident. For some time, the artist thought about the importance of highlighting something unusual and amazing among all his little knowledge about art. And then he drew a face that looked at its creator and made it clear that the artist had found his idea.

Cost of paintings

Oleg Tselkov says that once his paintings were bought for 100-150 rubles apiece. Although the artist himself estimated them at 20 rubles. During the time of the artist's poverty, the American playwright and prose writer Arthur Miller got into his studio. He chose one of Oleg's paintings and said he wanted to know its price. Tselkov at some point was confused, not having faith that such a person wants to buy his painting. Gathering his thoughts, the master said, "Three hundred." And Arthur Miller, in turn, asked with great surprise: "Three hundred what? Rubles?" In the end, the painting was sold onlyfor three hundred rubles. But, as it turned out, the playwright was so surprised because he thought that works were valued in dollars. After this mistake, Oleg Tselkov decided to act more reasonably. He measured the parameters of the painting and calculated its area by multiplying the height by the width. To the following questions about the cost of a particular work, the master firmly stated that one square centimeter is equal to one dollar. On June 12, 2007, a painting by Oleg Nikolaevich Tselkov called "Five Masks" was put up at an auction in London, with an initial price of 120-160 thousand dollars, and it was sold several times more expensive.

At one time this work was bought from the artist by the famous collector Georgy Kostaki. Also, the painting that the artist presented to the Canadian ambassador, once gone into obscurity, appeared at an auction and was sold for 279 thousand dollars.

Exhibition in St. Petersburg

One of the brightest exhibitions of the artist Oleg Nikolaevich Tselkov was opened in St. Petersburg in the art gallery Lazarev Gallery in 2011 and was called “Oleg Tselkov. XXI Century . It consisted of 15 paintings that were painted between 2000 and 2010. The artist himself spoke about what is rare in Russia. However, if he comes to visit, then he will certainly not do without a gift. In 2004, he donated some paintings to four museums - the Hermitage, Pushkin, Russian, Tretyakov. Such actions indicate that it is not at all difficult for the creator to part with his work. And the artist himself proved this by saying thatthat when the creations are burned in a fire, he will not be sad. If this incident happened to them, then it should have happened.

New York Exhibition

The second particularly striking exhibition was opened in 2013 in New York by the ABA Gallery of Russian Painting. It consisted of 48 paintings by the artist Oleg Tselkov, painted between 1969 and 2010. Gallery owner Anatoly Bakkerman told the audience that he met the artist himself in Paris. And this meeting took place thanks to the famous collector Alexander Glazer. By that time, Anatoly already had a painting by Oleg Tselkov. Even then, he was amazed by the unusual and bright presentation, with the help of which amazing masks were created. Anatoly Bakkerman opened this exhibition in order to convey to the audience the deep philosophical meaning of the paintings of the artist who surprised him.

One painting for a lifetime

So what is the idea of bold and bright paintings by the artist Oleg Nikolaevich Tselkov? What in these canvases allows Oleg to stand in fifth place among Soviet artists in creating the most expensive canvases? The inhabitants of his works are soldiers without masks who rebelled against everything in the world that can humiliate a person. They go against a system in which people are cogs, and if one of them takes a wrong turn, they will be destroyed and replaced. This army was nicknamed "a tribe that no one has seen" because they carry anger and longing at the same time in order to show humanity itsthe real look that many people hide. The artist himself cannot define them and sometimes even calls himself "damned". He calmly parted with the paintings and never writes to order from the principle that art should not be created for commercial purposes. The artist Oleg Tselkov does not say exactly what lies in the diversity of his paintings. He confidently declares that he creates one picture, but each time in a different way.