Sculptor Tsereteli Zurab Konstantinovich: biography, creativity

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

The name of Zurab Tsereteli is known all over the world. His monumental art leaves no one indifferent: he is either loved with all his heart, or just as passionately hated. The sculptor lived a rich life filled with creativity, and today he continues to work intensively and is active in social activities.

Origin and childhood

Zurab Tsereteli was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi in a Georgian family with princely roots. His father belonged to an old princely family, as did his mother. The father of the future sculptor worked as a civil engineer, and his mother was a housewife. Zurab spent a lot of time in his childhood at the house of his maternal uncle, Georgy Nizharadze, a painter. A special creative atmosphere reigned in his house, Georgian artists often visited here: Sergo Kobuladze, Ucha Japaridze, David Kakabadze. They saw talent in the boy and became his first teachers.

Education

After school, the future sculptor Tsereteli entered the Tbilisi Academy of Arts at the facultypainting. And all his life he considers himself first and foremost a painter, and only then a sculptor, muralist. He graduated from Zurab in 1958. After six years, during which he worked as an artist-architect at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography at the Georgian Academy of Sciences, he went to study in France. During this trip, Tsereteli managed to communicate with a large number of famous artists and artists, including Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, who praised the talent of the beginning Georgian artist.

The path to great art

Since the end of the 60s, Tsereteli has been attracted by monumental art and mosaics. The sculptor is distinguished by great diligence and high productivity, which is why he manages to create such a large number of works. Among the first works that brought him fame were a design project for a resort complex in Pitsunda (1967), a series of mosaic and stained glass compositions in Tbilisi (1972), an original children's resort town in Adler (1973). The implementation of such serious projects opened Tsereteli's access to even more serious work. He carries out orders for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, where he worked as the chief artist. Significant was the work of Zurab Konstantinovich on the design of the Olympics and on the development of the project of the Izmailovo hotel complex in Moscow in 1980.

In the next 10 years, numerous monuments to Tsereteli appear in Russia and abroad. He is more interested in metal structures, he makes many large-scale monuments,several experimental projects with stained glass windows. In the early 1990s, Tsereteli moved to Moscow, where, with the active support of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, he created many monumental compositions for the Russian capital.

Also for many years, Zurab Konstantinovich has been creating sculptural portraits of his contemporaries, which are installed in many cities of the country and the world.

Tsereteli himself considers painting to be the most important part of his work. During his long life, he painted over 5,000 paintings on various topics. His works are in many private and public collections around the world.

Religious theme in Tsereteli's art

The most important theme in the art of Zurab Tsereteli is faith. He actively participated in the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, changing the original plan. This caused indignation among historians, but Yuri Luzhkov took the side of the artist, and the sculptor's corrections remained. Zurab Konstantinovich repeatedly turned to religious topics. So, he created a monument to Pope John Paul II. But the largest was the sculpture of Jesus Christ. The artist conceived it for the Olympic Sochi, but it was not possible to erect a monument there. Later, they tried to install Zurab Tsereteli's Jesus Christ in St. Petersburg, but even there he did not fit into the landscape. This is not surprising, because the height of the monument, together with the pedestal, is 80 meters.

Peter the First

Sculptor Tsereteli has always gravitated toward large-scale structures, and in 1997 he received a grand order from the Moscow government. On an artificial islandHe was commissioned to erect a large-scale sculpture on the Moscow River. This is how the monument to Peter the Great appeared. Its height is 98 meters. The erection of the monument caused great indignation among the public, and after Luzhkov left the post of mayor, there were proposals to remove the monument. However, no one took on such responsibility and expenses, and the monument still stands in Moscow.

Famous works

In the vast legacy of Tsereteli it is difficult to identify the most significant works: their list is very long. However, the most resonant and large-scale creations include the following:

- memorial monument on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow;

- Okhotny Ryad shopping and entertainment complex in Moscow;

- monument "Friendship forever", dedicated to Russian-Georgian friendship (Moscow);

- sculptures on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow;

- composition "Good Defeats Evil" in New York;

- two versions of the Birth of a New Man sculpture in Paris and Seville;

- sculpture "Hare" in Baden-Baden;

- a monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in Ruza.

Public opinion and criticism

Tsereteli's monuments often cause a great resonance, criticism and even rejection. Many of his creations caused great public excitement and negative assessments from experts. So, his work on the Cathedral of Christ the Savior received a lot of criticism, in which the sculptor made very serious deviations from the reconstruction project,which violated the historical image of the restored object. Regarding his monument to Peter the Great, only the lazy did not speak out: Tsereteli was accused of violating the historical perspective of the city, of kitsch and bad taste. The famous work “Tear of Sorrow”, which the master wanted to donate to the United States in memory of the victims of September 11, caused a lot of controversy, which led to the fact that several cities refused the gift, and the sculptor had to spend a lot of time to find a place for the monument. The same story was repeated with the figure of Jesus Christ in Russia. Many art historians say that Tsereteli's artistic abilities do not exceed the level of an average graphic designer. And psychiatrists are seriously thinking about the artist's complexes, looking at his passion for giant structures.

Museum of Modern Art

Zurab Tsereteli, whose works are already presented in many countries of the world, has created a museum to promote his own creativity. Mayor Luzhkov allocated several buildings in the very center of Moscow for the Tsereteli Museum. It houses the sculptor's personal collection of 2,000 works of art, and the collection is regularly updated. Today, the museum has an extensive collection of works of Russian art, including an interesting set of works by Soviet non-conformists and contemporary artists. A separate building is occupied by a permanent exhibition of Zurab Tsereteli, located on three floors of the museum-workshop. Here you can trace the trends in the development of the master's talent. The museum conducts a large educational and educationalactivities.

Community activities

Zurab Tsereteli always spent a lot of time and energy on social activities. He considers it his duty to help people, to educate the younger generation. For some time he taught at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, now he gives master classes in educational institutions around the world. Tsereteli is the president of the International Assistance Fund, an honorary academician of many art academies of the world, he was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, president of the Russian Academy of Arts. He was even a deputy of the State Duma and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Awards

Sculptor Tsereteli for his stormy and productive work was awarded an incredible number of distinctions, awards and prizes, listing them all can be very long. The most significant awards include the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Artist of Georgia, the USSR, the Russian Federation, Lenin and State Prizes. Tsereteli is a holder of the Orders of Lenin, Friendship of Peoples, "For Services to the Fatherland" of the first, second and third degrees. He is also the owner of the orders of Moscow, the Chechen Republic, the Orthodox Church and many countries of the world. He has more than ten different honorary titles, the owner of more than ten different awards, 12 insignia from foreign countries.

Family

Sculptor Tsereteli is a happy family man. His wife, Inessa Aleksandrovna Andronikashvili, also belongs to an old princely family. The couple has a daughter, Elena, who works todayart critic. Tsereteli has three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.