Zurab Tsereteli

**Zurab Konstantines dze Tsereteli** (, ;  January 4, 1934 – April 22, 2025) was a Georgian-Russian painter, sculptor and architect. He held the office of President of the Russian Academy of Arts.

## Life and career

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.

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.

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

In 1980, Tsereteli was appointed the chief designer for the XXII Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. In 1981, he became a professor at his alma mater, the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. 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.

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. 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.

_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.

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.

In 2001, the Gallery of Arts of Tsereteli was opened in Moscow. 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. In 2005, _Holocaust_ was donated by Russia to Israel and opened in Jerusalem.

In 2012, Tsereteli founded the Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi, Georgia.

In 2016, Tsereteli was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

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.

Tsereteli died at the age of 91 from a heart attack at his residence in Peredelkino, Moscow Oblast, on 22 April 2025.

## Other websites

- http://www.tsereteli.ru/  - the artist's official site
- http://www.911monument.com/ - the official site of "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" monument by Zurab Tsereteli
- Artwork by Zurab Tsereteli at The Cold War Museum
- Good Defeats Evil  at the New York Public Art Curriculum
- Monument to Peter the First from Inside and Above. Pictures

## Infobox (artist)

- **name**: Zurab Tsereteli
- **image**: Zurab Tsereteli 2014 3x4 portrait.jpg
- **caption**: Zurab Tsereteli in 2014
- **birth name**: Zurab Konstantines dze Tsereteli
- **birth place**: Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
- **death place**: Peredelkino, Russia
- **works**: The Peter the Great Statue,
Birth of the New World,
To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, Tear of Grief