Russian greatness, American grief, endless love: Honoring the legacy of Russia’s most famous sculptor (PHOTOS)

A visual journey through the colossal creations of Zurab Tsereteli, the man who turned cities into galleries

Renowned sculptor and president of the Russian Academy of Arts, Zurab Tsereteli, passed away on the night of April 22 at the age of 91.

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Over the course of his prolific career, he created more than 5,000 works of art – paintings, graphic works, and monumental sculptures – many of which now stand in major cities around the world.

His artistic legacy remains the subject of intense debate, with some of his most prominent works sparking admiration and controversy in equal measure.

RT takes a closer look at the artist’s journey and his most influential pieces.

A life shaped by art

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1934, Tsereteli grew up in a family of engineers, but it was his uncle, acclaimed Georgian painter Georgy Nizharadze, who introduced him to the world of art. From a young age, Zurab was surrounded by the vibrant creative circles of Georgia – he listened in awe as artists discussed their work and ideas, and it wasn’t long before he knew he wanted to be one of them.

Trips to his grandmother’s village also left a lasting imprint. The lush colors and textures of rural Georgian life became a wellspring of inspiration, shaping his future artistic style. “My mother’s whole side of the family watched over me,” he once recalled. “My grandmother was especially wise – so was my aunt. They were both educated in St. Petersburg. When I started drawing, they gave me complete freedom. I painted the floors, everything.”

That freedom nurtured a creative spark that would define his career. Tsereteli graduated from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1958 and began his career at the Georgian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnography. He joined expeditions, worked in restoration, and later took a position as a senior designer at the Georgian Art Fund’s production center, where he began experimenting with bronze, stone, glass, wood, and mosaic. He produced large-scale works for public buildings, blending materials and themes with bold ambition.

By the 1960s and ‘70s, his signature mosaics had become iconic features in cities across the Soviet Union—from Georgia and Abkhazia to Russia. One of his landmark pieces from that era was Seabed, a stunning mosaic on a pool floor in Ulyanovsk, unveiled for Lenin’s 100th birthday. The work earned him the USSR State Prize and was later recognized as a cultural heritage site.

Crossing borders, winning recognition

Tsereteli’s mosaics won acclaim not just at home but abroad. His monumental installation for a children’s resort in Adler drew high praise from Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, who saw in Tsereteli a kindred spirit among monumentalists.

“On my own behalf and on behalf of the muralists of Mexico, I congratulate Zurab Tsereteli for the artistic merits of his works in the House of Political Education in Tbilisi and the resort complex in Adler. With great plastic power and creative imagination Zurab Tsereteli comprehends the complex technique of wall painting. I affirm that he has entered the vast expanses of the art of the future, the art that combines sculpture and painting. The work of Zurab Tsereteli has gone beyond the national framework and acquires international meaning,” Siqueiros said.

Even earlier, in 1964, Tsereteli traveled to France and met with two giants of modern art – Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. The experience left a profound impression.

“My teachers in Georgia spoke of Picasso and Matisse as titans,” he later said. “We weren’t allowed to see their work, but I had. When I found myself in Picasso’s studio, I realized that an artist could be a sculptor, a painter, and a graphic artist all at once. Back home, they’d say: ‘You’re a painter – just paint. A sculptor? Stick to sculpture.’ That was the mindset.”

He also struck up a friendship with Chagall, who visited him in Moscow years later. “I saw him for the last time just three months before he died,” Tsereteli recalled.

Picasso, for his part, saw great promise in the young Georgian: “This young artist Zurab has a wonderful beginning. He perfectly feels color, generalizes the form. I see him as a future great painter.”

Two homelands

Tsereteli rose swiftly through the ranks of Soviet monumental art. By 1976, he was awarded the prestigious Lenin Prize, and just a few years later, he was named chief artist of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. That same year, he unveiled Man and the Sun, a colossal sculpture nearly 80 meters tall, towering over his hometown of Tbilisi.

His first major public commission, however, was Friendship Forever – a monument unveiled in Moscow in 1983 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Georgia’s incorporation into the Russian Empire. The sculpture interlaces the Russian and Georgian alphabets, with the words “Unity” and “Brotherhood” subtly woven into the design. At the base are scrolls etched with poetry by Pushkin, Lermontov, and Pasternak.

Originally, the work was part of a dual installation. The second half – Bonds of Friendship – stood in Tbilisi. It featured two massive rings representing the intertwined histories of Georgia and Russia, bound together by a gilded metal knot. In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Tbilisi counterpart was destroyed in an explosion.

From 1985 to 2003, Tsereteli worked on what would become one of his most ambitious projects: The Chronicle of Georgia, located on a hill overlooking Tbilisi. Sixteen towering columns – each rising between 30 and 35 meters – are carved with images of Georgian kings, queens, and national heroes. Biblical scenes, including episodes from the life of Christ, are depicted on the lower sections. Locals nicknamed it the “Georgian Stonehenge,” for its solemn grandeur and commanding scale.

Years later, Tsereteli would reimagine the concept for his “second homeland.” In 2017, he unveiled The Alley of Rulers in central Moscow, just off Petrovyerigsky Lane. The open-air installation features 33 bronze busts – Russian emperors, Soviet leaders, and even transitional figures like Prince Georgy Lvov and Alexander Kerensky of the Provisional Government.

“I think The Chronicle of Georgia and The Alley of Rulers are the most important works of my life,” he once said. “I love Russia and Georgia equally. And so these two works, to me, carry the same weight.”

Defying critics, captivating the world

Zurab Tsereteli’s work was often met with fierce criticism – but that rarely stopped it from capturing global attention. Perhaps his most controversial creation is also his most famous: the towering 98-meter statue of Peter the Great on the Moskva River. Unveiled in 1997, the monument was immediately polarizing. Rumors circulated that it had originally been a sculpture of Christopher Columbus, repurposed after a failed bid to send it to the US – though no official confirmation ever surfaced.

Residents of Moscow demanded that the massive statue be relocated or torn down altogether. Tsereteli, for his part, maintained that citizens had the right to decide whether or not a monument belonged in their city. Still, the sculpture stands to this day – an enduring symbol not only of Tsereteli’s style, but of his ability to provoke and persist. In a way, the backlash only fueled its fame.

Another piece that sparked public debate was Tragedy of Peoples, a Holocaust memorial in Moscow’s Victory Park. Though widely considered Tsereteli’s strongest work at that site, the eight-meter-high sculpture was so emotionally intense it unsettled many visitors. At one point, officials even decided to move it deeper into the park to spare passersby. What they hadn’t accounted for, however, was the emotional gravity of Tsereteli’s work – it resonated so deeply that no matter where it stood, it became part of the park’s solemn symphony of remembrance.

The larger Victory Park complex had opened a year earlier in 1995, with Tsereteli as its chief artist. His Monument to Victory dominates the site: a 141.8-meter obelisk – each 10 centimeters marking a day of the war. At its peak, a bronze statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, holds a laurel wreath, flanked by angels with trumpets.

At the base, a sculpture of Saint George slaying a dragon symbolizes the defeat of fascism.

Among his most debated international works was a statue of French President Charles de Gaulle, erected outside Moscow’s Hotel Cosmos. Originally intended as a gift to France (who declined it), the sculpture found a home in Russia – but not without mockery. Locals said it resembled not de Gaulle, but the comic French actor Louis de Funès, best known for his role as Commissioner Juve in the Fantômas films. The nickname stuck: they called it “Louis.”

In addition to his large-scale public works, Zurab Tsereteli also created more personal sculptures – including several depictions of political figures. Among them was a bronze statue of Vladimir Putin in a judo uniform, sculpted in 2004 and titled “A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body.” Inspired by the Russian president’s well-publicized interest in martial arts, the piece was never displayed publicly and remained part of the artist’s private collection. In 2011, Tsereteli produced a second statue of Putin in a similar pose, hands resting on his belt. Both works sparked mixed reactions and were ultimately not installed in any official public setting.

A global footprint

Tsereteli’s reach extended far beyond Russia and Georgia. His works can be found across the globe – in the US, France, Spain, Italy, and beyond. One of his best-known international sculptures is Good Defeats Evil, installed outside the United Nations headquarters in New York in 1990. Crafted from decommissioned Russian SS-20 and American Pershing missiles, the base supports a statue of Saint George slaying a dragon – a visual metaphor for the triumph of peace over the threat of global destruction.

In 2006, he completed The Tear of Grief (also known as To the Struggle Against World Terrorism), a 30-meter monument erected in Bayonne, New Jersey, in memory of the victims of 9/11. Suspended within the monument is a 12-meter nickel-plated teardrop. Officially a gift from the Russian people to the United States, the sculpture was unveiled on September 16, 2005, at a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Another of his international works, Break the Wall of Distrust, was installed in 1990 on Cannon Street in London. The four-meter-tall bronze figure appears to walk through a crumbling wall, leaving behind a cross-shaped silhouette. As Richard Luce, then UK Minister for the Arts, noted, the sculpture “symbolized a new era of peace, trust, and closer cooperation between East and West.”

In 1995, Birth of a New Man was unveiled in Seville, Spain – part of a larger project titled How Europe Discovered America. The 45-meter bronze, copper, and steel sculpture features Christopher Columbus standing with a map in hand inside a domed “egg” of sails and masts. The sails are etched with Maltese crosses and the names of Columbus’s three ships: Santa Maria, Pinta, and Niña.

That project’s second phase came in 2016, with the unveiling of Birth of the New World in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. At 126 meters, it’s one of the tallest statues in the world. The stainless steel, bronze, and copper figure of Columbus stands at the helm of his ship, right arm raised in greeting, with sails and a flowing banner rising behind him.

Tsereteli even found a place in the heart of French literature: his bronze tribute to The Three Musketeers was gifted to Gascony – the homeland of the fictional d’Artagnan – at the request of Count Emery de Montesquiou, a descendant of the real-life inspiration for the character. The sculpture was based on the Soviet film adaptation by Georgiy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Actors from the film, including Veniamin Smekhov and Valentin Smirnitsky, attended the unveiling and were inducted alongside Tsereteli into the international Musketeer Society, joining over 600 honorary members from around the world.

A relentless creator

Tsereteli never stopped. Even in his later years, he kept working from his countryside home, where he had a fully equipped studio. Every day began the same way: morning exercises, then straight into the studio.

“When I work, I sing,” he once said. “I’m in another world – and it feels good to be there.”