The name of Zurab Tsereteli is known throughout 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 an eventful life full of creativity, and today he continues to work intensively and conducts active 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, my mother led the household. Zurab spent much of his childhood in the house of his maternal uncle, Georgy Nizharadze, an artist and painter. A special creative atmosphere reigned in his house; Georgian artists often visited here: Sergo Kobuladze, Ucha Japaridze, David Kakabadze. They discerned talent in the boy and became his first teachers.
Education
After school, the future sculptor Tsereteli entered the Tbilisi Academy of Arts at the faculty of painting. And all his life he considers himself primarily a painter, and only then a sculptor, monumentalist. He graduated from Zurab in 1958. Six years later, during which he worked as an artist-architect at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography at the Georgian Academy of Sciences, he goes to study in France. During this trip Tsereteli manages to communicate with a large number of famous artists and artists, including Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, who praised the talent of the young Georgian artist.
The path to great art
Since the late 60s, Tsereteli has been attracted by monumental creativity and mosaic. The sculptor is very industrious and highly productive, so he manages to create such a large number of works. Among the first works that brought him fame was the design of the resort complex in Pitsunda (1967), a series of mosaic and stained glass compositions in Tbilisi (1972), the original children's resort town in Adler (1973). The implementation of such serious projects gave Tsereteli access to even more serious work. He carries out orders for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, where he worked as the main artist. Significant was the work of Zurab Konstantinovich on the design of the Olympics and on the development of a project for the Izmailovo hotel complex in Moscow in 1980.
In the next 10 years, numerous monuments of Tsereteli appear in Russia and abroad. He is more interested in metal structures, he makes a lot of large-scale monuments, several experimental projects with stained-glass windows. In the early 90s, Tsereteli moved to Moscow, where, with the active support of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, he created many monumental compositions for the capital of Russia.
Also over the years, Zurab Konstantinovich creates sculptural portraits of 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. Over his long life, he wrote more than 5,000 paintings on various topics. His works are in many private and public collections in the world.
Religious theme in the work of Tsereteli
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 aroused the indignation of 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 most massive was the sculpture of Jesus Christ. The artist conceived it for the Olympic Sochi, but failed to establish a monument there. Later, Jesus Christ Zurab Tsereteli tried to establish in St. Petersburg, but even there he did not fit into the landscape. This is not surprising, because the height of the monument along with the pedestal is 80 meters.
Peter the First
The sculptor Tsereteli always gravitated to large-scale structures, and in 1997 he received a grand order from the Moscow government. On an artificial island on the Moscow River, he was instructed to erect a large-scale sculpture. So there was a monument to Peter the Great. 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 has assumed such responsibility and expenses, and the monument still stands in Moscow.
Famous works
It is difficult to identify the most significant works in Tsereteli’s vast heritage: their list is very long. However, the most resonant and large-scale creations include the following:
- memorial monument on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow;
- shopping and entertainment complex "Okhotny Ryad" in Moscow;
- The monument "Friendship Forever", dedicated to Russian-Georgian friendship (Moscow) ;
- sculptures on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow;
- composition "Good conquers evil" in New York;
- two versions of the sculpture "The Birth of a New Man" in Paris and Seville;
- sculpture "Hare" in Baden-Baden;
- a monument to Zoe Kosmodemyanskoy in Ruza.
Public Opinion and Criticism
Often the monuments of Tsereteli cause a great deal of resonance, criticism and even rejection. Many of his creations caused great public excitement and negative assessments from experts. So, a lot of complaints were received by his work on the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in which the sculptor made very serious deviations from the reconstruction project, which violated the historical image of the restored object. Only the lazy did not speak about his monument to Peter the Great: Tsereteli was accused of violating the historical perspective of the city, of kitsch and tastelessness. The famous work “Tear of Sorrow”, which the master wanted to give the USA 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 monument to the place. 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 the average designer. And psychiatrists seriously think about the artist's complexes, looking at his passion for gigantic structures.
Modern Art Museum
Zurab Tsereteli, whose works are already represented in many countries of the world, created a museum to promote his own creativity. Mayor Luzhkov allocated several buildings for the Tsereteli Museum in the very center of Moscow. It housed a personal collection of the sculptor, consisting of 2000 works of art, and the collection is regularly updated. Today the museum has an extensive collection of works of domestic art, including an interesting collection of works by Soviet nonconformists 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 development trends of the talent of the master. The museum has a lot of educational and enlightening activities.
Social work
Zurab Tsereteli always spent a lot of time and energy on social activities. He considers it his duty to help people, educate the younger generation. For some time he taught at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, now he gives master classes in educational institutions of the world. Tsereteli is the president of the International Fund for Assistance, an honorary academician of many art academies of the world, he was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, president of the Russian Academy of Arts. He even visited a deputy of the State Duma and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Awards
The sculptor Tsereteli was awarded an incredible number of insignia, prizes and prizes for his rapid and productive activities, you can list them all for a very long time. 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 - Knight of the Orders of Lenin, Friendship of Peoples, "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the first, second and third degree. He is also the holder of orders of the city of Moscow, the Chechen Republic, the Orthodox Church and many countries of the world. He wears more than ten different honorary titles, the holder of more than ten different awards, 12 insignia from foreign countries.
A family
The sculptor Tsereteli is a happy family man. His wife, Inessa Alexandrovna Andronikashvili, also belongs to the old princely family. The couple has a daughter, Elena, who today works as an art critic. Tsereteli has three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.