Monument of the epoch: Zurab Tsereteli died

Zurab Tsereteli, a man of unlimited creative abilities, has died. His talent as a painter was appreciated by Pablo Picasso, his cloisonne enamel technique is considered outstanding, and his modernist bus stops in Pitsunda and Gagra still remain the hallmark of these regions. Tsereteli himself usually preferred to talk about which genres he preferred and which of his own works he liked best. He has said more than once that his works are his children, and it is impossible to give more love to one of the children. Izvestia recalls the artist's creative and life path.

Transportation as an art

Zurab Tsereteli was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi. His father, Konstantin Grigorievich, a well-known civil engineer in the republic, came from an untitled branch of the ancient Tsereteli princely family, his mother Tamara Semenovna belonged to the Nizharadze princely family. Her brother, Georgy Nizharadze, was a famous artist and had been painting with his nephew since childhood. However, the Tsereteli family was generally creative: Zurab Konstantinovich recalled that his relatives regularly gathered together to sing or play the guitar. Famous Georgian artists such as David Kakabadze, Ucha Japaridze, and Sergey Kobuladze often visited George Nizharadze's house, and by the time Zurab graduated from high school, he was convinced that his future lay in painting.

In 1958, the future sculptor graduated from the painting faculty of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, and soon went to study in France for two years. There, Zurab Tsereteli met Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso, who praised his talent as a painter, arguing that with his outstanding flair for color and form, the young Georgian artist would certainly become an outstanding painter. However, after returning to his homeland, Tsereteli took up large-scale forms, becoming one of the main design artists of Abkhazia. The Art Nouveau bus stops made by him in Gagra, Pitsunda and New Athos, with unusual shapes and colors, covered with glossy mosaics, still attract the attention of tourists. And today the mosaic children's town remains the main attraction of the Seaside Park of Staraya Gagra.

Gradually, the young sculptor began to receive larger and more significant commissions. In the 1970s, as part of a group of architects, he participated in the creation of the Lenin jubilee memorial in Ulyanovsk, in the construction of the House of Political Education in Tbilisi, decorating it with bright abstract mosaics, participated in the design of the Cinema House in Moscow. And soon Zurab Tsereteli finally moved to the capital, having received the status position of the chief artist of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, being engaged, in particular, in the design of embassies of the USSR abroad.

Two homelands

In 1980, Zurab Tsereteli became the main artist of the Olympic Games-80 in Moscow. Tsereteli himself was engaged, among other things, in the design of the Sport Hotel, and also created a huge multi-meter bas-relief, which today adorns the Izmailovo cinema and concert hall. The architects involved in the work on the Izmailovo hotel complex were awarded the USSR State Prize.

By this time, Tsereteli had already definitively decided on the main area of his artistic interest, opting for large sculptural forms. However, the artist did not abandon his childhood favorite painting.: He continued to work on paintings, mainly for the sake of creative expression, and occasionally held exhibitions of his paintings. Tsereteli said more than once that work was his best rest and favorite form of leisure, and he always found time for painting, besides, he always worked very quickly: according to people who knew him well, he was quite capable of painting several paintings in one day.

Having worked a lot in Moscow, Zurab Tsereteli also found time to create in his native Georgia. Since 1981, he has been the artistic director of the Monumental and Decorative Arts of the Georgian Art Foundation, and in 1985 he became the head of the Department of Monumental and Decorative Arts at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, from which he himself once graduated. Amazingly efficient, the master managed to devote time to work in Moscow and Tbilisi, without trying to rank them by importance. The fact that he has two homelands — Russia and Georgia, the master will speak more than once in interviews and in much later years.

However, since the 1970s, Tsereteli's works — not only architectural, but also sculptural — have increasingly appeared not only in the republics of the USSR. The first sculpture of the master acquired a foreign residence in 1979 - it was a 20—meter monument "Science, Education to the world" in the city of Brockport, New York. It was followed by the monument "Good conquers evil" in front of the UN building in New York, the monument "Destroy the Wall of Distrust" in London, the monument to Columbus in Puerto Rico and the statue of John Paul II in Paris, the monument to Marina Tsvetaeva in French Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, the Three Musketeers in Gascony and there are many more works. Tsereteli gave many of his creations to cities and provinces all over the world, easily explaining that he himself loves giving much more than receiving gifts.

Museum business

Throughout his life, the name of Zurab Tsereteli was surrounded by the most incredible rumors. It was said that his fortune was several billion dollars, that he was the owner of several large businesses. The sculptor himself, in turn, has always maintained that he earned everything he has with his own hands and his own creativity. Indeed, there were legends about Zurab Tsereteli's perseverance and efficiency, and no one disputed them, not even himself. In addition, he never objected to being called a "court artist," and reminded his interlocutors of Titian, who was favored by the senators of the Republic of Venice.

And only about one, the most personal side of his life, no one ever gossiped. Zurab Tsereteli got married in his early youth, once and for all. The artist met his wife, Princess Inessa Andronikashvili, while still a student, they married in 1958 and lived together for 40 years, until Inessa Alexandrovna's death in 1998.

In 1997, Zurab Tsereteli became president of the Russian Academy of Arts. In the two years since taking up this post, Tsereteli has managed to create a Museum of Modern Art in the capital, Russia's first state museum with only twentieth— and twenty—first-century art in its collection. The foundation of the museum's collection was Tsereteli's own collection, which he transferred to the museum. And soon another museum appeared in the capital, the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, where visitors can see paintings, graphics and sculptures by the master himself, as well as works by Russian artists of the XVIII — XX centuries.

Generous, good-natured, and constantly surrounded by friends and colleagues, Zurab Tsereteli remained a man of good health well into his nineties. It seemed that with his charm, he convinced old age itself to leave his life as bright as a youth, full of his favorite work and new experiences.