The name of Zurab Tsereteli is known all over the world. He leaves no one indifferent: he is either loved with all his heart, or just as passionately hated. The sculptor lived a life filled with creativity, and today he continues to work intensively and is active in social activities.
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, George 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.
After school, the future sculptor Tsereteli entered the Tbilisi Academy of Arts at the Faculty of Painting. And all his life he considers himself first of all 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 highly appreciated the talent of the beginning Georgian artist.
Since the late 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.
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 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 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.
The sculptor Tsereteli has always gravitated toward 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 commissioned to build a large-scale sculpture. So it 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.
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;
Shopping and entertainment complex "Okhotny Ryad" in Moscow;
Monument "Friendship forever", dedicated to the Russian-Georgian;
Sculptures on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow;
Composition "Good conquers evil" in New York;
Two versions of the "Birth of a New Man" sculpture in Paris and Seville;
Sculpture "Hare" in Baden-Baden;
Often, the monuments to Tsereteli 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 gigantic structures.
Zurab Tsereteli, whose works are already presented in many countries of the world, 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 great educational and educational activity.
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 even visited a deputy of the State Duma and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
The sculptor Tsereteli was awarded an incredible number of distinctions, awards and prizes for his stormy and productive work, it would take a very long time to list them all. 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 badges of distinction from foreign countries.
The 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 today works as an art historian. Tsereteli has three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
(born in 1934) Russian sculptor, designer
All his life, Zurab Tsereteli has been busy filling the cities with his sculptural compositions. There are about a dozen of them in Moscow alone. This includes a column with letters of the Armenian, Georgian and Slavic alphabets on Tishinskaya Square, the sculptural composition "The Tragedy of Nations" on Poklonnaya Hill, figures of animals in the Alexander Garden near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, sculptural fragments of crosses and doors, as well as the interior decoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior , reconstruction of Manezhnaya Square according to the project of Tsereteli, his monument to Peter I.
Obviously, contemporaries should be grateful to the sculptor for his desire to please people with his art. However, the work of Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli causes an ambiguous attitude towards him. Some speak of him as a man of great talent, others believe that the sculptor achieved fame thanks to his organizational skills. "There are too many Tseretels everywhere," his critics say. And there are really a lot of them. The sculptural compositions of Zurab Tsereteli are installed not only in Moscow, St. Petersburg, in the homeland of the sculptor in Georgia, but also in other countries of the world. Tsereteli made three sculptures for the USA. His composition "Good triumphs over evil", made from the remains of Soviet and American nuclear missiles SS-20 and Zersching, is installed in front of the UN headquarters in New York. Tsereteli's sculptures are in London, Paris, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, in the capitals and cities of eleven countries of the world.
However, Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli knows how to defend his point of view on art. He has no doubt that time will put everything in its place and the descendants will be grateful to him for his functional art, which is directed to the good of man.
It seems that Zurab Tsereteli had to defend his position all his life, and he fully mastered the art of compromise. “I was often criticized, but I always did my job. I did not allow myself to be distracted by showdowns and conflicts. I have such a character: I wake up and do not remember yesterday's grievances. A creative person cannot be vindictive,” says the sculptor.
Problems with self-affirmation began in his student years. Zurab Tsereteli studied at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts and prepared a painting called “Song of Tbilisi” for release. However, the commission saw elements of convention in it, and Tsereteli was not allowed to defend. Another would be confused in his place or would continue to defend his point of view. But he chose a different path. Tsereteli persuaded a friend to pose for him and in two weeks painted another picture called "The New Man", depicting a strong athlete with a tennis racket in his hands. This time the picture fully complied with the principles of socialist realism and was made in the spirit of the then recognized poster art. This work fully satisfied the exacting commission. Zurab Tsereteli defended his diploma with honors, and thus the conflict was resolved.
After the academy, he had to go to work at the Institute of Ethnography and Archeology in order to support his family. Then he was already married, and his wife was expecting a child. However, this time was not wasted for the sculptor. Together with scientific expeditions, he traveled far and wide across Georgia, got to know its history, way of life, people's customs, without which a real artist cannot take place.
Finally, Zurab Tsereteli managed to get an order for the decoration of the city of Pitsunda. This was his first major professional work. He based his project on an ancient theme about the Argonauts who sailed to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. His next work - a project for a children's town in Adler - was awarded the Lenin Prize.
Since then, Tsereteli has been rapidly going uphill and there has been no shortage of orders. He designs the Yalta Hotel in the Crimea, works in Miskhor, and becomes the chief designer for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. By this time, Zurab Tsereteli was already settling in Moscow himself. In 1967, he received a workshop on Tverskoy Boulevard, in which, according to the sculptor, Vladimir Vysotsky celebrated his wedding with Marina Vlady.
However, Tsereteli does not break his ties with his homeland and alternately lives either in Moscow or in Tbilisi. This continued until he had disagreements with the then President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who demanded that the sculptor not host US President George W. Bush in his Moscow workshop. By refusing to comply with this demand, Zurab Tsereteli became an "enemy of the Georgian people." In Tbilisi, his statue of the “Ring of Friendship” was blown up, the house was set on fire, in which 100 paintings burned down and many other valuable things died. After this incident, Tsereteli finally moved to Moscow. Here, the sculptor received a luxurious mansion and a piece of land in the very center of Moscow, on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Street, which used to belong to the German embassy, as a gift from the Russian government. This also caused disapproval in artistic circles, but Tsereteli believes that in this case justice has triumphed, since this land was once owned by his ancestors, and now it has rightfully returned to him.
Tsereteli, in turn, donated his mansion in Tbilisi, which once housed Russia's first representative office in Georgia, to the Russian government, and now the Russian embassy in Georgia is located there.
Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli likes to say that all his wealth is his work and his friends. He really works a lot. However, the sculptor has not only obvious and secret ill-wishers, but also good friends. Among them are people of art, scientists, politicians. He also considers his friends the great contemporary artists M. Saryan, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, D. Siqueiros, who have died. Tsereteli says that Siqueiros specially came to Tbilisi to look at his mosaic panel, he also went to Adler, where the sculptor designed a children's town at that time, and seemed to say: “My teacher Rivera once worked like that, but he had plastic evil, but you have it good.
His family is small. His only daughter is married to the son of the former chief architect of Moscow, M. Posokhin, and his grandson graduated from high school at the UN.
Zurab Tsereteli is not offended by the authorities. He is a laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR. Currently, he is a People's Artist of the Russian Federation and President of the Academy of Arts.
Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli is still tireless, continues to work hard and thinks about many new projects, not forgetting to repeat his favorite saying: "Dogs bark, but the caravan moves on."
muralist
Well-known muralist, leading muralist of Moscow. President of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997, director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art since 1999. In 1997 he became the author of the artistic solution for the renovated Manezhnaya Square, and in 1995 he became the chief artist in the creation of the Memorial Complex on Poklonnaya Hill. Author of the Victory Monument on Poklonnaya Hill and the monument "300 Years of the Russian Fleet" on the Moscow River. In 1980 he was the chief artist of the Olympics in Moscow, in 1970-1980 he was the chief artist of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hero of Socialist Labor. He has the honorary titles of People's Artist of the USSR, People's Artist of Russia and People's Artist of Georgia. Member of a number of academies, professor. Citizen of Russia and Georgia.
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 took a course of study in France, where he talked with the famous artists Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall.
In 1965-1967, Tsereteli was the chief graphic designer during the construction of the resort complex in Pitsunda. At the same time, by 1967, being the head of the artel, he set up 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 1973 he became the author of the monumental ensemble of the children's resort town in Adler. This work brought Tsereteli fame both in the USSR and abroad. In particular, the well-known Mexican artist Alfaro Siqueiros spoke positively about her.
In 1979, a monument by Tsereteli "Science, Education - to the World", about 20 meters high, was installed in the American city of Brockport in the state of New York. In the same place and in the same year, the monumental composition "Happiness to the children of the whole world" was installed. According to some reports, Tsereteli was supposed to paint the UN building in New York together with Picasso, but this project was never realized.
In 1980, Tsereteli was the chief artist of the Olympic Games in Moscow. Also in 1980, Tsereteli created the monumental sculpture "Man and the Sun" about 80 meters high in Tbilisi, and in 1982 - the monument "Friendship Forever" in Moscow, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of St. George and the entry of Georgia into Russia. Since 1985 he began to work on the ensemble "History of Georgia" near Tbilisi. Finished work in 2003. In 1989, Tsereteli's "Destroy the Wall of Distrust" monument was erected in London, and in 1990, the "Good Defeats Evil" monument appeared in New York.
In the early 1990s, Tsereteli came into conflict with the Georgian authorities and was forced to move to Moscow. Here, having received the support of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, he actually became the "number one muralist". In 1995, Tsereteli became the chief artist in the creation of the Memorial Complex on Poklonnaya Hill. He created the Victory Monument in the form of a monument to George the Victorious and a stele 142 meters high. In 1995-2000, Tsereteli participated 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 recreation complex. Also in 1997, a monument by Tsereteli "300 Years of the Russian Navy", or "Peter the Great", 96 meters high, was erected on the Moscow River. His installation 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 erected 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, Honore de Balzac in the city of Agda in France, Cossack Kharko in Kharkov in Ukraine, General Charles de Gaulle in Moscow, Alexander Peresvet, 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 Prime Minister of Japan Ichiro Hatoyama in Tokyo, Moscow composition "Wives of the Decembrists. Gates of Fate" and a monument to the memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan, as well as a huge copper hare in Baden-Baden. In addition, Tsereteli was engaged in the design of new stations of the Moscow metro - "Victory Park" 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.
Creativity Tsereteli caused a mixed reaction in society and among critics. He was reproached for monopolizing monumental projects in Moscow, violating the stylistic unity of the capital and creating his works in-line. Other critics of Tsereteli's activities spoke positively and claimed that he created his own style.
Tsereteli has been a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation since 2005. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, has the honorary titles of People's Artist of the USSR, People's Artist of Russia and People's Artist of Georgia. The sculptor is the president of the Moscow International Foundation for UNESCO, an academician of the International Academy of Creativity, a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, a full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, a professor at the Brockport University of Fine Arts and a corresponding member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.
TV channel "360" remembered the most controversial works of the sculptor.
Zhirinovsky was cast in bronze - the lifetime monument to the politician was presented by friends, and it was made by Zurab Tsereteli. The sculptor has long been the unspoken title of the main "Kremlin sculptor". At the same time, Tsereteli's fame in the country and abroad is very ambiguous. The 360 TV channel recalled the controversial monuments to Tsereteli, which the customers refused.
Peter in a skirt
Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina / RIA Novosti
Even before the installation in 1997, the long-suffering monument caused a lot of controversy. According to rumors, the boat originally flaunted a statue of Columbus, and Tsereteli unsuccessfully tried to sell the sculpture to the United States, Spain and Latin America.
In the future, after the installation, they tried to re-gift the monument to Peter to St. Petersburg, but the cultural capital refused the present. They even tried to blow up the sculpture, but the attack was prevented by an anonymous call, and since then access to Peter has been closed.
In addition, ordinary Muscovites really did not like the monument. Residents of the capital staged pickets, rallies, protests, put up ads with the words "You were not standing here" and with requests to dismantle the 98-meter sculpture of the first Russian emperor from the Moskva River embankment.
And in 2008, the monument was included in the list of the ugliest buildings in the world. The rating was compiled based on the results of voting on the site "Virtual Tourist".
"Louis", or "monument to the gendarme"
Near the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow there is another refusenik - a 10-meter monument to the leader of the French Resistance. The monument was conceived as a gift, but Paris politely refused it. But on the other hand, President Jacques Chirac, who subsequently sympathized with many French media, came to the opening of the monument to Charles de Gaulle at Cosmos in 2005.
For example, "Le Figaro" published the following note: "... lowering his arms and hunching over, a clumsy general rises, more like a scarecrow. Or a robot. The entire Russian press has already mocked the monument to its heart's content. From afar, its silhouette is comical. One of the journalists, Dmitry Kafanov, says that the monument reminds him of Louis de Funes in the film about the gendarmes.But close up, the general's face is frightening, all the torments of hell immediately flash before his eyes... Some compassionate souls, passing by the monument, sympathize with Chirac.Will he be able to restrain himself from laughter?Will he be offended "What if such a completely unflattering portrayal of the hero who called on the French to fight the Nazis on June 18, 1940, will cause a scandal? Or a diplomatic incident? Russians love to dramatize everything."
"Tear of Sorrow"
"Size matters" - Zurab is often guided by such a rule when performing work. The artist sent a bronze sculpture with a titanium drop in the middle to New York in solidarity with the September 11 tragedy. According to the author's intention, the monument, symbolizing the twin towers, should stand on the site of the tragedy. However, the Americans saw in this creation a completely different symbol.
Here is what the Hudson Reporter writes: "... the monument looks like a giant vulva and will be offensive to women", "something between a scar and a female genital organ", "... the sculpture uses a banal symbol of sadness, and its banality is exacerbated by its large size" .
A group of activists wrote a petition to the authorities of New York with a request not to install a structure at the site of the attack. The authorities went to meet the residents, then Tsereteli proposed to erect a monument to the city of Jersey City, located on the other side of the Hudson. But even there they refused the gift. In the end, the creation managed to attach in the state of New Jersey, next to New York, and now it flaunts on an abandoned pier of a former military base at the mouth of the Hudson River.
"Tragedy of the peoples", a monument to the victims of Beslan or a procession of coffins
A colony of 8-meter victims of the fascist genocide emerges from the graves and heads towards Kutuzovsky Prospekt. Tombstones on Poklonnaya Gora caused horror among Muscovites and requests to "move the zombies somewhere behind the museum." Therefore, it was even decided to move the monument inside the park, away from the eyes of passers-by. However, critics called this sculptural composition "Tsereteli's best work."
Zurab Konstantinovich later used the coffins again, when creating a monument to the victims of Beslan. According to the plan, the angels from the coffins take the children to heaven. Children's toys are scattered on the pedestal of the sculpture. This monument would not have caused criticism from anyone, but Internet users heartily walked through Pinocchio sitting on the pedestal.
Riddles from Tsereteli
And finally, we invite you to think about the questions that many people have, looking at some of the works of Zurab Tsereteli
Riddle from Tsereteli No. 1: how did George the Victorious chopped a snake on honor with a thin spear?
Riddle from Tsereteli No. 2: What are the people in the photo doing
Riddle from Tsereteli No. 3: how many kittens will there be?
people shared an article
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 of a specific time. No matter how large the work is, no matter how high its tower is, the foundation and 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 constitute 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 art of Zurab Tsereteli is no exception. The master creates memorials 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 are of the greatest interest to our time. After all, historical memory is not the history of mankind that has gone forever into the past, events and people that have not disappeared into non-existence, but something that is constantly present and acts in our life, on 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 devoted to portrait images created by Tsereteli, which can be thematically combined according to the following positions: history of Russian statehood, images of saints and the gallery "My Contemporaries".
At the heart of their common foundation are questions of morality and morality. The portrait images created by the sculptor are united by the increased attention of society to the destinies and characters of specific individuals.
1. 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 of the 9th-20th centuries, has a special place. The series is made 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 with an incredible surge of interest in national history. "Almost", because Tsereteli, true only to his own worldview, did not expect this wave. Since the 1980s, he has been gradually creating first the plastic suite "Rulers of Russia" in the form of german busts, and then full-scale portrait images and sculptural compositions dedicated to 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 making the sculptural series "Rulers of Russia" and "History of Georgia". And now I'm done. It is 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 they sounded a topic that has been seriously worrying society all these years - the return of the historical memory of the nation, the return to its origins.
The composition consists of two bronze figures: the young emperor and his mother, placed on high round podiums. Little Peter runs recklessly along the cobbled pavement with a sword in his hand, half-turned looking back at Tsarina Natalya, nee Naryshkina, marching behind him. The son, as if persistently calling her after him, urging her to join him. The emperor is depicted as a boy, but his whole figure expresses an unbridled desire to move forward. His energetic run is conveyed so vividly that it seems that the hero may 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 fairy-tale noblewoman, absolutely closed from prying eyes. He places the figure of the queen strictly frontally and dresses her in a long, in the fashion of the 17th century, “deaf” dress, ornamented with a rich pattern, covers her from above with an equally richly ornamented sleeveless cape, tied with a buckle on her chest, and wraps her headdress with a shawl. The statue of the queen looks like a silent work of art, indifferent to what is happening around. You can hardly move in such clothes, and it stands like a frozen cocoon of a strange butterfly. You just need to wake her up, shake her up so that she shows herself in all her glory. In fact, the sculptor created an allegory of patriarchal Rus' - beautiful, rich, incomprehensible to the neighbors, frozen in a drowsy hibernation. It won't be long before Peter wakes her up. Deep comprehension of historical events helped the author to achieve a high artistic generalization of the image. All the details of the sculptural composition "Childhood of Peter" are carefully worked out. The expressive appearance of the future emperor, facial expressions, gestures, costume details, as well as the amazing image of his mother, personifying the homeland of the future reformer, are modeled.
Speaking about the sculptural series "Rulers of Russia", one cannot fail to mention the monument "The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, patroness of Pskov" - one of the 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 Grand Duchess Olga, who is revered in Pskov as its founder, is associated with the first mention of the city in the annals in 903. Due to circumstances, having risen at the head of a huge, still emerging state, the princess went down in history as the great creator of the state life and culture of Kievan Rus. It was Olga who had the honor to make a choice that determined the subsequent fate of Russia - she was the first of the Rurik dynasty to accept Christianity. Subsequently, the Grand Duchess was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint as equal to the apostles.
The monument is characterized by conciseness and restraint. In the plastic solution of the image, the holy sculptor expressed the majestic image of a woman with an unbending will and high self-esteem, invincible courage and a truly state mind, imprinted in the national memory. The figure is solved strictly and monumentally. While retaining real features, the image of Olga is emphatically conditional - she stands, holding a sword in one hand, and leans on a shield with the other. The figure is set on a high granite pedestal with a wide multi-stage base, which, on the one hand, ensures the monument's scale proportions, and, on the other hand, creates a visual support for those moral values that the image of the Grand Duchess embodies.
Taking a look at the portrait gallery of the rulers of Russia, created by Zurab Tsereteli, in the semantic aspect, a parallel arises with the monument “Millennium of Russia” by M.O. Mikeshin in Veliky Novgorod. Mikeshin's monument was intended to "evangelize the descendants of the heroic past of Russia" over the past millennium. In our case, the sculptor limited himself to images of the rulers of the country, demonstrating his desire to acquaint his contemporaries with those whose deeds and destinies in different historical eras were not always evaluated objectively, sometimes hushed up or distorted, but decided the fate of the motherland.
2. Images of saints - a story about lost moral values
The issue of preserving moral values is one of those that concern 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 must constantly remind people of them. Only in this way will art bring up citizenship and high spirituality.. A similar approach to creativity is also 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 in civil virtues, devotion to his homeland. After all, in the end, the main task of the artist is to see what others could not see, and to tell about it so that others would pay attention to it.
From this point of view, two monuments by Zurab Tsereteli, erected in the village of Borisoglebsk, Yaroslavl Region, are of interest. We are talking about the monuments to two monks of the Borisoglebsk Monastery - St. Alexander Peresvet and St. Irinarch the Recluse. 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 St. Sergius of Radonezh himself to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo together with the soldiers of Demetrius Donskoy and fell in single combat with the Tatar hero Chelubey. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized the monk Peresvet as a saint. The second monument, erected a year later, in 2006, is dedicated to Irinarkh the Recluse, a monk of the Borisoglebsky Monastery, who blessed citizen K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky to lead the people's militia for the liberation of Moscow in 1612. In Borisoglebsk, the name of St. Irinarch has been revered for a long time. At the age of 30, he took monastic vows at the Borisoglebsk monastery, and the relics of the saint later rested here.
These two monuments can be called paired. As strange as 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 growth, 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 the living, for whom he himself laid down his head on the battlefield. Saint Irinarch is depicted with a covered head - a distinctive element of the attire of a hermit monk, his right hand is raised for blessing. Each monument has a height of 3.2 meters, including the granite pedestal on which it is erected. In the plastic interpretation of the images of the saints, the author's predilection for the play of chiaroscuro created by deep folds of clothing, which enlivens the poses of the figures, giving them dynamics, was manifested. But the main thing that unites these monuments is the idea. Both of them are dedicated to two 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 story” , - 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", in the words of Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov). 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 prowess, 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 the saints turned out to be almost the only role models 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 Rus' - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the work of the sculptor, were installed in the Italian city of Bari, 2003, and in the village of Haapsala, Vyborgsky District, 2002. A monument to the holy Prince Oleg of Ryazan was built in Ryazan, 2007. Monumental portraits of two patriarchs - His Holiness the Patriarch of All Rus' 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 Gogol Boulevard.
The monuments to 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, where 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 with both hands to his chest, does not leave anyone indifferent. The contrast between the inspired face of a person who is confident in the grace-filled power of the teaching he preaches, and a frail barefoot body dressed in a loose chiton creates an emotional tension that makes the viewer stop. Deliberate simplicity in interpreting the image of one of the greatest missionaries of Christianity only brings the viewer closer to him. Attention is drawn to the Eternal Book, pressed to the chest. In the images of the saints, the sculptor sees examples of spiritual greatness and, feeling the demand of the time, tells the viewer about them. At the same time, the author's imagination, knowledge, as far as possible, of the life stories of saints allowed him to create the illusion of a close acquaintance with the characters depicted.
As M.A. Chegodaeva writes, “special attention should be paid to the fact that Tsereteli’s own religious works do not differ stylistically or plastically from his “secular” works, they form a single artistic whole with them.”
One of the recent works of the sculptor, in which he refers to the image of saints, is the monument to Pope John Paul II, which was opened in Paris in October 2014. Our contemporary, repeatedly glorified by his deeds of kindness and charity, his incredible modesty, peace initiatives, Pope John Paul II was canonized by the Catholic Church. Strange as it may seem, the author of the first monument to Pope John Paul II in France was not a Catholic, but an Orthodox one: the monument by Tsereteli was opened in 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 for installation 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. Not a single monument has ever been erected in this sacred place for the French. This is a great honor for me. The monument was given as a gift from the Russian people, as evidenced by the inscription on the base of the monument.”
The concepts of morality, duty, dignity occupy a special, honorable place in the system of Zurab Tsereteli's worldview. And this feature is one of those that allow us to speak not only about the historicism of the artist's thinking, but about monumental historicism. Considering a person's life from the position of eternity, the master clearly highlights 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 thoughts more understandable for the viewer, the sculptor in his work goes from a portrait image to a symbolic one. In this case, the plastic metaphor of the designated theme is the monument "Russian Truth", established in 2001 in the city of Kogalym of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. The sculptural composition is formed by a pillar of uvrazhes. The name is clearly engraved on the spine of each: “Great Menaion”, “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 the Novgorodians with the Suzdalians”, Nikonovskaya and the Trinity Chronicle, "The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev", "Zadonshchina", "The Tale 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 is 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 were transformed into a handwritten set of moral postulates that helped the Russian people maintain state independence and build a great power.
Having created a metaphorical image of eternal categories, the master encourages his contemporaries to learn from the example of great ancestors, including among them the wise rulers who gathered Russia bit by bit - specific principalities and then stood not for life, but for 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 Suzdalians, who sought 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 are transmitted from century to century by the “Cheti-Minei”, and first of all, Sergius of Radonezh and Alexander Nevsky, the most revered among the people. Let us repeat: the absence of the ideal of a highly moral contemporary, 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 and 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. Gates of Destiny "(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 cherished door, holds in her hands the icon of the Mother of God with the Child. On the faces of graceful young women in beautiful dresses there is humility, betrothed to the determination not to leave their beloved husbands, no matter what it costs them, despite the conditions of life of convicts, the harsh climate, etc. This is a monument to women's sacrifice, the determination to drastically change their fate for the sake of those you love. While the "gates of fate" are not thrown open, the heroines have the opportunity to change their minds, return from distant and cold Siberia to familiar Petersburg, but it seems that there are no cowards 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 ... Sculpture cycle with the traditional name "My contemporaries ”was started in 2000 and continues to grow today, currently 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 strongest emotional impacts in Russian art, the monument to Emperor Alexander III in St. Petersburg, said: “There can be no monument without a portrait, and a work of art without a symbol.” This statement is echoed by the portrait gallery "My contemporaries" in the interpretation of Zurab Tsereteli.
M.A. Burganova writes in her monograph on the monumental sculpture of Russia in the 20th century: “In the 1970-1980s, both in easel and monumental sculpture, one of the leading genres was the portrait of a creative person. The life of a writer, poet, artist, musician is comprehended as a phenomenon on a scale with history and even as a fact of history itself. In the years 1990-2000, this trend not only continues, but also intensifies, due to the lifting of bans on the names of many artists who are not loyal to the Soviet regime, and 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 included 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 sculptor's concept from the very beginning involved the creation of a portrait gallery of famous artists, not only from the images of personal acquaintances and living directly at the same time as the author, but much wider - a gallery of figures symbolizing Russian culture of the 20th century. The sphere in which Russia, perhaps, has made the greatest contribution to the global pantry of civilization. With its representatives, who lived and worked throughout 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 20th century, on moral problems, in particular, on the problem of the individual's duty to his country. M. Anikushin had no doubts, repeating after V. Mukhina: "In the future, our era will be judged 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 the names of outstanding personalities, his contemporaries in the 20th century, from the memory of the rapidly changing world. The sculptor himself admits: “I try to expand the My Contemporaries series as much as possible, preserving the impression of those 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 combines the portrait image of the model with the symbol, uses the attributes associated with her professional activities, actively uses the plastic possibilities of the high relief background, 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 lethrism (which is also typical for his monuments in the urban environment) and includes fragments of specific literary works, sometimes - statements of heroes in the background of high relief. These texts play a big role in the perception of the image, instantly reminding the viewer of the work 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 also applies to the representatives of the Silver Age, and to the author's immediate contemporaries - A. Voznesensky, R. Nuriyev, M. Plisetskaya, E. Svetlanov ... These people with world fame and glory had to endure a lot for the right to find, defend and preserve their individuality as artist and as a person. In our opinion, Zurab Tsereteli is talking about this, first of all, about loyalty to his talent despite the circumstances, about the spiritual stamina and moral courage of brilliant 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, making him think about the reason for choosing this or that character for his work, although he was simply friends or friends with many of them. After all, the stories of the life and work of Tsereteli's heroes, 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” can also be considered 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 maintain devotion 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 thoughtfully sad S. Yesenin, the wise E. Svetlanov, the indulgent Y. Lyubimov, the artistically calm A. Voznesensky, the ironic O. Tabakov, the excited A. Blok ... So the cycle “My Contemporaries” is read by the viewer as Tsereteli’s plastic poem about inspiration, while at the same time evoking 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 domestic art scene in the 1960s, and therefore includes his bas-relief self-portrait in the My Contemporaries series. Thanks to this, the works included in the series are made up not only of the sculptor's historical knowledge, but also of involvement in the era, primarily in its culture and art. Expanding the circle of those depicted to representatives of Russian culture of the early 20th century, Zurab Tsereteli proclaims the continuity of Russian art throughout the past century up to the present, declaring, among other things, himself the successor of this greatest cultural heritage. The viewer is presented with an image of the era, characterized by authenticity and historical accuracy. I would like to emphasize that the sculptor turned to the images of representatives of all types of art - visual, musical, literature, architecture, theater and cinema ... which says a lot about the interests of the author, about the nourishing sources of his work.
It is worth emphasizing that the sculptural poem “My Contemporaries” is a portrait one, many of the models, according to the author, posed for him, for example, Voznesensky, Bashmet, Dementiev, Spivakov, Aitmatov, Volchek ... From someone, before starting to sculpt, the sculptor made sketches during performances, as, for example, from 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 the model and the artist in the rank of Goodwill Ambassadors of this organization. An excellent visual memory also came to the rescue: the sculptor still gratefully recalls Joseph Charlemagne, one of his teachers at the Academy of Arts in Tbilisi, who taught students to draw from memory. Of course, iconographic materials also had to be used.
When asked whose portraits were the most difficult to create, the artist replies: “It was difficult to create almost all the portraits. I wanted to convey the inner state of these people - I do not like to redraw. I create portraits of those whose work is consonant with me and whom I love. For example, my close friends - Voznesensky, Yevtushenko, Aitmatov, Dementiev ... 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. M.A. Chegodaeva draws attention to the features of the realism of the sculptures of Zurab Tsereteli: “Just as if they were alive, they are devoid of any traces of naturalism - they are not present either in the sculptural image of the Apostle Paul, or in the monuments to the Pope and the Patriarch, as they are not in the sculptural portraits of artists, writers, politicians. Their “naturalness” is a kind of “superrealism”, what in the 1920s Tairov, Voloshin, Zamyatin called “neorealism”, “mystical”, “fantastic” realism. The heroes of Zurab Tsereteli, both living and departed - some recently, some centuries ago, are in some kind of imperishable temporal 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. So, 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 sung the beauty of Tbilisi, the pedestal is formed by a column, almost immersed in a relief made up of typical Georgian houses piled on top of each other. In the second, a series of houses descends like an avalanche along a steep mountain range, 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 the 1920s (then Tiflis), L. Gudiashvili wrote: “Tbilisi is a city with great poetic traditions. True, poetic cafes have largely lost their former flavor, but still life here was interesting and intense. 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 they were drawn here like a magnet. .
The names of S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky, O. Mandelstam, K. Balmont, B. Pasternak, N. Zabolotsky, N. Tikhonov and other Russian poets turned out to be forever associated with Tbilisi, with Georgia, in which they found new sources of inspiration, and the next generation of writers preserved this tradition. And Zurab Tsereteli, who repeatedly glorified his beloved city in his art, could not help but turn to his image even in the portrait cycle, when appropriate. Such a 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 the portrait statues of the My Contemporaries cycle. So, the images of V. Vysotsky, I. Brodsky, R. Nureyev, M. Tsvetaeva were first created in high relief, and then reworked on an enlarged scale, turning into monumental sculptures in the full sense of the word, which the viewer has the opportunity to bypass and examine from all sides. . Some of them are 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 built in the city of Pokachi of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (2012). Other statues included in the cycle were created as independent works. These are the 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 refer the viewer either to the work of the model or to her fate. According to A. Zolotov, this is due to the peculiarities of the perception of the model by the artist: “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 towards the symbol and can “take” him out of the sphere of artistic admiration into another sphere – the psychologically convincing “recognition” of the human essence of the hero.”
Much has been written, for example, about the monument to V. Vysotsky: a poet with a guitar, which he never parted with in his life, behind whose back images of golden-domed temples and horses from the most popular songs of the artist “peep out”. Or about the monument to I. Brodsky, half of whose figure the sculptor presented in the clothes of a convict, and the second - 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" labor! The author comments on the portrait of V. Spivakov as follows: “This is a unique musician. He's into sports! The people should know about it. 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 much to anyone who is familiar with the life history of these outstanding personalities.
The monument to A. Solzhenitsyn is special, not like the others. It does not contain attributes associated with his activities as a writer, or a human rights activist, or a historian. It lacks metaphors and allegories that suggest the viewer to some parallels and associations with the life and work of this unique person. This monument itself is a symbol - a symbol of eternal pain for the native country. This is exactly how, in our opinion, Zurab Tsereteli understood and conveyed the life of Alexander Isaevich by means of plastic arts, 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 evaluate and realize immediately, in their wake, the more unpredictable and surprising is the course of future events for us.” 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 the 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 internal tension - the life of the spirit, as if "matter and body did not remind of themselves." Hands play a big role in the portrait. As the sculptor says, “I tried very hard to capture his character – how he spoke with his hands. Each person of art has some special detail ... inherent only to him alone.
Solzhenitsyn's almost joined, but never closed, fingers exacerbate the feeling of intense inner work, a deep wrinkle on his forehead is a sign of enduring pain for his 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, it clearly shows the sculptor's emotional approach to the fate of the model.
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 his creative activity, especially when it comes to brothers in the professional workshop, the sculptor freely experiments in the field of the latest techniques and technologies, saturating the synthesizing method with new elements. of your creativity. The interest of the master in the technique of enamel, in which Tsereteli has been working since the late 1970s, is well known, and the search in the field of which he develops in the following areas: an increase in the number of color tones, the combination of jewelry art of enamel with a monumental form, the transition from flatness to volumetric-spatial structures and the exit enamel work into a real environment.
It is symbolic that for the first time the sculptor included monumental paintings in the technique of cloisonne 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 in 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 a portrait image and a decorative principle, which is of great importance in monumental plastic arts, 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 by 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 reflected the atmosphere of the current critical time in the country, which is characterized by people's great interest in their historical past, increased attention to traditions, for known reasons, interrupted for decades, a moral crisis, and a lack of authority among contemporaries capable of uniting disunited and disappointed 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, reflection; superficial topicality does not give a true image of today. Fine art is “photo fixation”, it is akin to philosophy, its area is not fluent handicrafts, 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, according to his worldview, provided answers to questions that worry society, creating a plastic image of his era.
