"The very presence of Boris Yefimov was already giving me goosebumps"
The Russian Academy of Arts (RAH) is working on the opening of an art center in China, has signed an agreement with Iran and is negotiating with Vietnam. He also plans to organize a series of exhibitions of Zurab Tsereteli's works around the country and to revive his mosaic park in Adler. Vasily Tsereteli, President of the Academy of Arts, told Izvestia about this. The interview took place on the eve of the launch of the joint project of the Izvestia and the Russian Academy of Arts: the exhibition "Cartoons. Comics. Humor of the Fuhrer's personal enemy", dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Izvestia cartoonist Boris Yefimov and the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. The exhibition will be open to the general public on November 19th.
"He ignited everyone around him with his inner energy"
— Our conversation is timed to coincide with the upcoming opening of the joint exhibition of Izvestia and the Russian Academy of Arts, in the center of which is the figure of the outstanding cartoonist Boris Yefimov. You knew him personally. Can you tell us about communicating with him?
— Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli and I were lucky to meet Boris Efimovich more than once, to see him in different guises — both on the presidium and just in friendly communication in Zurab Konstantinovich's office, at home at our table. He was a man of fantastic energy, intelligence, humor, and at the same time brilliantly deep, very subtle. In general, an amazing personality. His very presence was already giving me goosebumps, because this is an entire era. Even at the beginning of his career, Zurab Konstantinovich made satirical cartoons for the Crocodile magazine. And he really appreciated the art of caricature.
— How did Tsereteli treat Efimov?
— As a close friend. Although Yefimov called him a boy, they still had a big age difference. But until recently, there was no feeling that Yefimov was 100 years old or so. I think I first saw Efimov when he was 97. And this, of course, is a unique character in the history of art and the history of the country. When he participated in the meetings of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, people behaved differently. He ignited everyone around with his inner energy.
— Was he involved in the life of the academy?
— Absolutely. He was the head of the caricature section at the Graphics Department of the Russian Academy of Arts. And this is a separate field, which, thanks to Zurab Konstantinovich, stood on a par with painting and other academic arts. Recently we had an exhibition "Faith. Heroic deed. Victory", dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. And the cartoons of both Kukryniks and Boris Yefimov were just being shown there. This is an integral part of our history, including the military, because artists like Yefimov supported the spirit of our army during those difficult years.
Sculptor, artist Zurab Tsereteli
— During Efimov's lifetime, Zurab Konstantinovich made his sculptural image, the composition "Brothers", where the figure of the cartoonist is adjacent to the figure of his brother, publicist Mikhail Koltsov, who was repressed in the 1930s. How did this job come about?
— In one of the conversations with Zurab Konstantinovich, Boris Efimov shared his experience, the burden that was always present in his soul. He told me about his brother and added, "I am so many years old because I live my brother's years." And after this conversation, Zurab Konstantinovich had the idea to create such a work of art. In this composition, Koltsov is behind a conditional grid. It is present and absent at the same time. And Yefimov holds the text, a poem that he himself wrote as a message to his brother.
When the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery opened, this work became the completion of the exposition of the last hall dedicated to our contemporaries. Now there is such a thing as a site specific object, that is, an object adapted to a specific space. So the "Brothers" are made just for this place.
Sculpture "Brothers"
— At the exhibition that we are preparing, Yefimov's sculpture from this composition will be reproduced in the form of a hologram. I think it should impress and surprise the audience. But the description emphasizes that the original work by Zurab Tsereteli can be viewed on the first floor of the gallery. We expect that visitors to the exhibition will go downstairs after viewing it and see the original — it will become a kind of symbolic postscript of the entire route, a very emotional point (or ellipsis) of our story. Do you remember how Efimov himself reacted when he saw the composition by Zurab Konstantinovich?
— I remember the opening ceremony of this monument. Boris Yefimov was very pleased. It was a touching event. He shed a tear.
"The foundation is an academic school"
— A few months ago, you were elected president of the Russian Academy of Arts. You were very involved in her work before, but nevertheless you have already immersed yourself in her work in a new capacity. Do you have any plans to reform it? Is there anything that needs to be done to ensure that it remains a relevant institution?
— Since its inception, the Russian Academy of Arts has been such an ideal and unique institution that it is relevant at all times. I would like to note that the academies of many other countries that have tried to change, reform, and run after fashion have lost their foundations as a result.
Our Academy of Arts has preserved and multiplied its fields. To what was originally, folk crafts, decorative and applied arts were added.… The key point is that Zurab Konstantinovich preserved the Academy of Arts and made it more open than before. Before him, it was a very conservative organization, but now it unites completely different styles in art. For example, we have a department of the latest art trends, which has many artists working in experimental genres.
Nevertheless, the foundation is an academic school, science, and the education of new generations of artists based on the great examples of the Russian realistic school. After all, there can be no development in any direction without a foundation.
— At the same time, you are also expanding geographically.
— Yes, we have recently opened a Southern branch. Its creation was initiated by Zurab Konstantinovich, but it was approved in the charter of the Russian Academy of Arts after his death. We also have a regional branch of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East, which coordinates the work of the academy in these regions, a branch of the Volga region, branches and creative workshops in Krasnoyarsk and Kazan.
That is, we cover our entire country. This fall I had a big trip to the regions: I visited Nalchik, Krasnoyarsk, Ufa, Kursk, Yekaterinburg and many other cities, we opened a creative workshop of Florentine mosaics in Ulan-Ude.
— Is there any foreign cooperation now?
— We have signed agreements with China, Iran, and recently had negotiations with Vietnam. A Center for the study of Russian Art is being created in China, and in response they will create a similar structure here. This is an exchange of experience and students. Currently, a large number of Chinese students study in both St. Petersburg and Moscow, but thanks to the center in China itself, they will have more extensive training before they arrive in Russia. I would like the guys who come here to know something about our culture, history, and understand the basics of the Russian realistic school.
— Do I understand correctly that teachers from Russia will teach at the center of the Academy of Fine Arts in China?
- of course. These are representatives of the Academy of Arts, including those who teach at our excellent universities.
— Then why do we need the Chinese center here?
— It is necessary for those students who are interested in Chinese culture and art. They could start studying it here, and then, being already prepared, go there. China has its own traditional art forms, such as calligraphy and so on. We recently had an exhibition by a very interesting Chinese artist who combined the traditional folk roots of his culture with the realistic Soviet school. It turned out to be a very interesting synthesis.
— When it comes to the Russian Academy of Arts, the general public often has a simple question: what is it? University? Or an analogue of the Union of Artists? How is it interconnected with the Surikov and Repin Institutes (the latter is now called the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts)?
— First of all, the Russian Academy of Arts is one of the state academies, along with the Russian Academy of Sciences. It participates in the program of fundamental scientific research, unites in its structure the outstanding masters of fine arts and architecture of our country, and has foreign members. It is a government organization that coordinates and conducts work in the field of art sciences, art education, and professional creativity.
The academy itself is divided into departments of painting, graphics, sculpture, design, monumental, theatrical art, and art history. They include our most important and important artists and art historians. Some of them preside over the presidium. And already the presidium participates in the work of the Surikov Institute, the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg and other universities of our country. And of course, our academicians teach in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other cities.
It is important that we have a three-stage art education in Russia. First, these are lyceums, then institutes and, at the final stage, the creative workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts, which are actually an analogue of postgraduate studies for artists. Many people do not understand what creative workshops are. They think it's just the artists sitting in their assigned workshops, working. No, this is the highest postgraduate level of education, where the most successful graduates of art institutes who have passed the competitive selection have the opportunity to continue their studies under the guidance of an outstanding master academician. The workshops have more than half a century of history.
— And the creative workshops are part of the Russian Academy of Arts, and the previous stages are legally autonomous, right?
— Until 2013, both the Surikov Institute and the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg were part of the Russian Academy of Arts. Then it was decided to separate science and education. Since then, they have not been directly subordinate to the academy, but are under its scientific and methodological guidance. Therefore, our academics head departments and workshops, participate in reviews and in the development of the program of these universities. We are also in very close contact with the Stroganov Academy and other art universities in our country, because traditionally, the Academy of Arts, especially in Soviet times, supervised all art education: developed techniques, promoted patriotism, love of creativity, and the development of a realistic school. We were, one might say, the ideological mouthpiece of the state. And it is very important that we recently returned the education function to the academy's charter.
— Has this happened already during your presidency?
- yes. In 2013, this function was removed from the charter, but now it is back. Now our creative workshops can fully operate and issue diplomas, like a postgraduate course.
"We have returned museum activities to the charter of the Academy of Arts"
— In addition to the Russian Academy of Arts, you are the head of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA). Many people have the idea that MMOMA is focused on more experimental, youth-oriented, avant-garde art (despite all the conventions of this concept). And the Academy of Arts is more conservative. Are there any plans to bring these two institutions closer together? Is it possible that the academy will be more actively replenished with artists of a new generation working in some experimental forms?
— To begin with, it is a mistake to contrast these two organizations. Both were led by Zurab Konstantinovich. And he was always, on the one hand, for tradition, and on the other — open to new things.
Visitors at the exhibition "Things and Visions" at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art
MMOMA has a traditional museum mission: preservation and study of heritage. At the same time, we promote the birth of new names and showcase young artists. There is a Free Workshops school at the museum, where artists and curators study. MMOMA also has a research laboratory that studies paintings and works of art from various periods and trends, from icon painting to the present day, determines their authenticity, and helps restorers with its expertise.
— What is the museum's collection?
— It contains more than 15,000 works of art from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, and it covers all areas that exist today, including academic art and all variants of realism. It is impossible to build a story about the culture and history of our country without including all directions.
But the Academy of Arts also has, as I have already said, a department of the latest artistic trends. The works of the members of this department — Alexander Ponomarev, Yuri Avvakumov, Tatiana Badanina, Ivan Kolesnikov, Sergei Denisov and others — are in the collections of many foreign and Russian museums, including MMOMA.
These two institutions complement each other. One is a museum, the other is a scientific and educational one. Although now we have returned not only educational, but also museum activities to the charter of the Academy of Arts.
"Wasn't she there before, too?"
— It was until 2013, when some kind of incomprehensible reform occurred, which led to a number of things that we are currently correcting. We are returning historical justice.
— MMOMA hosts many exhibitions of artists of different generations, including personal and retrospective exhibitions, but not all of these artists are members of the Academy of Arts. Why? And what prospects do they have in order to enter this academic environment?
— The number of corresponding members and academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences is very limited. Obtaining membership is a complex process, and it is regulated by state laws, charters, and so on. The Academy is not a public organization like the Union of Artists. By the way, they are also accepted there very selectively, but, of course, it is easier.
Nevertheless, young people are still elected to us: our departments themselves nominate artists whom they consider to have already achieved a certain status corresponding to the academy. Some of them are, for example, 35-year-olds.
"We have a queue of applications for Tsereteli exhibitions"
— Zurab Tsereteli recently passed away. I can't help but ask about his artistic legacy. It is obvious that it is huge, because he created literally until the last days and incredibly intensively. I myself witnessed how, right during the conversation with me, he drew without stopping, and created some wonderful sketches. Surely the audience has not seen all of this, especially if we talk about what has been created in recent years. Is there any plan to show this?
— We certainly hold exhibitions. Recently, exhibitions of his art have been opened in Vitebsk, Sochi, and Yekaterinburg. In September alone, we launched several projects. And we don't plan to stop. We have a queue of applications and requests from all over Russia and beyond for exhibitions of Zurab Konstantinovich's work.
Equally important is the preservation of his legacy. The Academy is currently holding a creative competition with various architects to find ideas for the restoration of the unique Tsereteli mosaic complex in Adler. It's included in all the architectural guidebooks, it's a whole city. But time and improper attitude have almost completely destroyed him.
We hope that the result of this competition will be interesting ideas, which we will be able to implement later in dialogue with the management and, perhaps, with the involvement of some interested parties.
— Are there any projects of monumental art, casting, or large monuments that Zurab Tsereteli completed in miniature, but did not manage to cast in bronze?
— Of course, and they are now being made in workshops. There are even sculptures that have already been completed but are waiting for their time to be installed.
— So we can say that we will see new monuments by Zurab Konstantinovich?
— Absolutely. I hope.
Izvestia reference
The exhibition "Cartoons. Comics. Humor of the Fuhrer's Personal Enemy", which includes about 100 original drawings, photographs, posters, archival materials, as well as an extensive multimedia component, is dedicated to the anti-fascist caricature in Izvestia. A number of exhibits will be shown for the first time, including Boris Yefimov's unique album "Hitler and his Pack", drawings from which Stalin presented to Churchill.
Working with Boris Yefimov's legacy, Izvestia also thought about the revival of the genre of political caricature itself, and its return to the pages of the federal media. So, if you have discovered your talent as a cartoonist and feel that your work should definitely be seen by our other readers, please send them via the feedback form. The Izvestia editorial board and experts from the Russian Academy of Arts will select the best works from the received works, which can then be published on the Izvestia News Center resources. And the most prominent authors will have the opportunity to constantly collaborate with Izvestia.
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