Jump to content

Zurab Tsereteli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For Georgian footballer, see Zurab Semyonovich Tsereteli.

Zurab Tsereteli
ზურაბ წერეთელი
Зураб Церетели
Tsereteli in 2014
Born
Zurab Konstantines dze Tsereteli

(1934-01-04)4 January 1934
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died22 April 2025(2025-04-22) (aged 91)
Peredelkino, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Notable work
Awards




Plaque bearing Tsereteli's name

Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli (Georgian: ზურაბ კონსტანტინეს ძე წერეთელი zurab k’onst’ant’ines dze ts’ereteli, Russian: Зураб Константинович Церетели; 4 January 1934 – 22 April 2025) was a Georgian-Russian painter, sculptor, and architect known for large-scale and at times controversial monuments. Tsereteli served as the President of the Russian Academy of Arts from 1997 until his death.

Life and career

[edit]

Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli was born in Tbilisi on 4 January 1934.[1] Tsereteli studied at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and graduated from there in 1958.[2] He was married to Inessa Andronikashvili.[3]

Between the years 1960 and 1963, Tsereteli worked as a staff artist as the Georgian Academy of Sciences and participated in research expeditions, which in turn served to influence his work.[4]

In 1964, he made his first trip abroad to France. He stayed in Paris for three months, during which time visited Pablo Picasso in his studio. This experience served to greatly shape his later creative production. At a later stage he also became acquainted with Marc Chagall, and as well as the work of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, the influence of whom can also be seen in the Tsereteli's work.[5]

In the 1970s, Tsereteli also designed several Soviet embassies and consulates over the world.[1] In 1978–79, Tsereteli was invited to teach painting as a visiting professor at the College at Brockport, State University of New York.[6]

In 1980, Tsereteli was appointed the chief designer for the XXII Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.[7] In 1981, he became a professor at his alma mater, the Tbilisi Academy of Arts.[6] In 1990, Good Defeats Evil, Tsereteli's interpretation of St. George slaying the dragon as an allegory for world peace in the modern age, was unveiled at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.[7]

In the 1990s, Tsereteli continued to work on public commissions for the city of Moscow, which many insist was due to his personal friendship with mayor Yuri Luzhkov.[7] The most significant of these projects include: the reconstruction of Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Manege Square, the War Memorial Complex on Poklonnaya Gora, the Moscow Zoo, as well as the 98m tall Peter the Great, monument erected in 1996–97, which has elicited mixed feelings among the citizens of Moscow.[8]

The Birth of the New Man was inaugurated in Seville, Spain in 1995, in celebration of the European discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus.[9]

Tsereteli was elected the President of the Russian Academy of Arts. He founded the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in 1999, becoming the first state museum in the country entirely dedicated to modern and contemporary art.[1]

In 2001, the Gallery of Arts of Tsereteli was opened in Moscow.[6] In 2006, Tsereteli unveiled his monument To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, or The Tear of Grief, in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was donated to the United States as an official gift by Russia in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks to show support and solidarity for the American people.[10] In 2005, Holocaust was donated by Russia to Israel and opened in Jerusalem.

In 2009–10, he was elected a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Austria), given the title of Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor by France, as well as a 1st Rank Order "For Services to the Motherland" by the Russian Federation. In 2011, he received two awards from the Roman Academy of Fine Arts: the "For Life in Art" Prize and the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award for significant contribution to the arts.[6]

In 2012, Tsereteli founded the Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi, Georgia.[11][12]

In March 2016, Tsereteli was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.[13]

Tsereteli continued his service as President of the Russian Academy of Arts, organised regular exhibitions by Georgian and international artists at the Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi, and continued to produce artwork.[14]

On 6 December 2020, Tsereteli was honored the highest state order of Serbia for his contribution of the interior decoration of the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, for which the Russian Academy has been the main contractor.[15]

Tsereteli died at the age of 91 from a cardiac arrest in his residence in Peredelkino, Moscow Oblast, on 22 April 2025.[16][17]

The Birth of a New Man in Seville

Criticism

[edit]

Critics note the excessive expressiveness and excessive pathos invested in the images of the heroes of Tsereteli's works. They also note the naivety of the sculptural groups on Manezhnaya Square and the mistakes made in the design of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Tsereteli's works fit into the aesthetics of postmodernism: eclecticism, kitsch, provocation, and playing with scale.[18][7]

Since the early 1990s, Zurab Tsereteli has been supported by Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and has effectively become the city's chief muralist.[19] Tsereteli's Moscow works were criticised by city residents and experts, who ranked the sculptor among the expressors of the infamous "Luzhskov style of architecture."[20][21][22] The Peter the Great Statue, erected in 1997, sparked especially heated debate.[23]

Awards

[edit]
With Dmitry Medvedev, 26 July 2010
Award[6]
Award Year
Lenin Prize 1976
People's Artist of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic 1978
USSR State Prize 1978
People's Artist of the USSR 1979
USSR State Prize 1983
Hero of Socialist Labor 1991
People's Artist of Russia 1993
Knight of the Order of Friendship of Peoples 1994
State Prize of Russia 1996
Order of the Legion of Honor 2010

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Georgian-Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, known for his gigantic and controversial work, dies at 91". CityNews Halifax. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Zurab Tsereteli, Georgian-born artist and Russian patriot, has died aged 91". www.theartnewspaper.com. 24 April 2025. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  3. ^ "A Master Ahead of His Time | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine". www.tretyakovgallerymagazine.com. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Zurab Tsereteli, sculptor. Biography". Ivestia. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli's work comes to London's Saatchi Gallery". Architectural Digest India. 30 January 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Zurab Tsereteli – Obras De Arte En Venta de Zurab Tsereteli". Es.Arte Gallery (in European Spanish). Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d "Georgian-Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli dies aged 91". www.bbc.com. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Vladimir Kozlov on Zurab Tsereteli". Passport Magazine.
  9. ^ Díaz, Cristina (26 April 2017). "Huevo de Colón: 20 años de daños impunes". Diario de Sevilla.
  10. ^ "Groundbreaking Ceremony: September 16, 2005". 911monument.com. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  11. ^ Oscharov, Roman (25 June 2015). "Zurab Tsereteli: Artistic licence". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Zurab Tsereteli: Larger Than Life – Announcements – art-agenda". www.art-agenda.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Zurab TSERETELI". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  14. ^ Hill, J. (2019). Zurab Tsereteli. 1st ed. Milan: Skira, pp.92–95.
  15. ^ RAH, 2020 ПРЕЗИДЕНТУ РАХ З.К.ЦЕРЕТЕЛИ ВРУЧЕН ОРДЕН СЕРБСКОГО ЗНАМЕНИ I СТЕПЕНИ Archived 15 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Georgian-Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, known for his gigantic and controversial work, dies at 92". AP News. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  17. ^ "Zurab Tsereteli, Sculptor of Grand Monuments and Putin Admirer, Dies at 91". The Moscow Times. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  18. ^ "Умер Зураб Церетели — самый критикуемый российский скульптор Почему его работы, которые все привыкли ругать, — на самом деле настоящее постмодернистское искусство". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  19. ^ "«Профессия такая — нужно каждый день искать»: жизнь Зураба Церетели". РБК (in Russian). 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  20. ^ Г. Ревзин (9 September 1998). "Хрустальная часовня в Охотном ряду". «Коммерсантъ» № 166. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  21. ^ А. А. Клименко (2002). "Открытое письмо Президенту России Владимиру Путину". «Единый художественный рейтинг», выпуск 6. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  22. ^ "От Петра I до коней на Манежной площади: главные работы Зураба Церетели". Forbes.ru (in Russian). 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  23. ^ "Умер Зураб Церетели — самый критикуемый российский скульптор Почему его работы, которые все привыкли ругать, — на самом деле настоящее постмодернистское искусство". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 24 April 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zurab_Tsereteli&oldid=1287761816"