Exhibition of works by Vladimir Tsigal. To the 100th Birthday

September 12, 2017 at 16.00 in the halls of the Russian Academy of Arts at the address: st. Prechistenka 21, an exhibition of works by an outstanding sculptor of the twentieth century, People’s Artist of the USSR, USSR State Prize laureate, holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, degrees III and IV, academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Vladimir Efimovich Tsigal (1917 - 2013), dedicated to 100- anniversary of the artist.

The exposition presents about 40 works of easel sculpture - portraits made in bronze and marble, bronze reliefs and other works.

V.E. Tsigal is a classic of Russian sculpture, an artist of bright original talent, whose work, marked by the depth of content and the perfection of artistic performance, entered the treasury of our culture. With his creative activity V.E. Tsigal always affirmed the values of “high art”, a deep connection with tradition and history, while maintaining a keen sense of modernity.

V.E. Tsigal was born on September 17, 1917 in Odessa. The war interrupted his studies at the Moscow State Art Institute. V.I. Surikov, where his teachers were wonderful masters -A. Matveev, V. Domogatsky, I. Shadr. In 1942, as a graduate student, he volunteered for the front. Until 1944 he served in the Navy, participated in the battles for Novorossiysk and Kerch, then - in the Baltic. He began his career in art as a front-line artist of the Black Sea Fleet, therefore the military theme for life remained one of the main in the work of the master. For participation in hostilities he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of the Caucasus", etc. In 1948, the diploma was defended. Member of many All-Union and foreign art exhibitions. For a long time V.E. Tsigal led a large team of sculptors as secretary of the USSR Union of Artists on Sculpture.

V.E. Tsigal is the author of more than 60 monuments, many portraits and easel compositions. The monumental works of the artist are characterized by the scale of the images, a powerful plastic form filled with intense dynamics and emotional expression. His memorial ensemble in Novorossiysk dedicated to the heroes of the Civil and Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, a monument to the victims of fascism and a monument to General D.M. are widely known. Karbyshev at the death camp in Mauthausen (Austria), monuments to Richard Sorge in Baku and Moscow, the hero of Italian resistance Fedor Poletaev in Ryazan, Soviet soldiers co-authored with L.E. Kerbel in Berlin, Zeelov, Kostrin and other places.

V.E. Tsigal is the author of monuments to the doctor N.F. Filatov, poets Sergei Yesenin in Moscow and Musa Jalil in Kazan, President Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) and polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen (Norway) in Moscow. His contribution to the development of the sculptural portrait is significant. Such works as Anna Frank, Mayakovsky in America, Down with the War, Hiroshima, a series of magnificent portraits by academicians S. A. Chaplygina, S.I. Vavilova, Field Marshal A.V. Suvorov, astronaut G. Titov, composer D. Kabalevsky, artist Rockwell Kent (USA) were appreciated by the art community for their high sculpting skills. V.E. Tsigal (in collaboration with A.V. Tsigal) created a bronze sculpture of George the Victorious, installed on the dome of the Senate in the Kremlin, and the composition “Justice” on the building of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Authentic craftsmanship was also noted for easel plastic by V. Tsigal. A prominent place in it is occupied by sculptural portraits. The artist creates images that conquer life convincingness, the depth of human feelings and moods. For several decades, V. Tsigal created a portrait gallery of Russian and foreign artists, including extremely expressive portraits of fellow artists - sculptors: A. Belashova, O. Komova, Yu. Chernov, writer M. Shaginyan, artist D. Shmarinov, poet M. Svetlova, directed by V. Meyerhold and others. His magnificent sculptural compositions and portraits, marked by the highest mastery of sculpting, convey the unique originality of the person, the significance of the spiritual world of man. The portraits of family members, relatives and friends are fanned with extraordinary warmth. A special place in the work of the sculptor is a nude model. Female images are characterized by extraordinary plastic expressiveness. Carved from marble, cast in bronze, they convey physical perfection, living trepidation and the beauty of the human body.

V.E. Tsigal constantly experimented in the field of form, often referring to the artistic concepts of different eras and directions, but at the same time invariably staying true to the traditions of the national school of sculpture. This also applies to a series of bronze reliefs created by the master in recent decades, dedicated to the artist’s meditations on life, history, and contemporary events. Allegorical, metaphorical, plastic-diverse series: “Fragments of history”, “Winners”, “Generations” - these cycles are connected by a single thread of emotional tension and testify to the complex figurative-plastic searches of the author.

Since 1991 V.E. Tsigal was a teacher-mentor of several generations of domestic sculptors, leading the creative sculpture workshop of the Russian Academy of Arts, transferring his rich experience and skill to young artists. Until now, former interns and now eminent artists with great gratitude recall the lessons of a wonderful master.

V.E. Tsigal is the author of a number of memoirs under the general title “Ceaselessly Surprising”, “Artists” and “Alphabetical Graveyard”, these are memories of events and upheavals of his life, meetings with interesting people, as well as the author of almost a dozen collections of poems.

The works of V. Tsigal are in the collections of the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery and other major domestic museums, as well as in the collections of several foreign countries.

The exhibition runs until October 10, 2017.